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Rescuers search for small plane missing in NSW’s Snowy MountainsA rescue team is searching for a small plane missing in New South Wales’ Snowy Mountains.Emergency services were first notified on Tuesday that the aircraft, with one person on board, was overdue arriving at the Moruya airport. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said a search was continuing this morning near Khancoban involving rescue helicopters and an agency Challenger jet. Amsa said weather conditions “are challenging with low cloud and restricted visibility”.The ABC reported the plane was flying from Wangaratta in Victoria and that NSW police said it was possible the plane had crashed near Dargals Trail in the Snowy Valleys, in the state’s south-west slopes region.NSW police, NSW SES, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Snowy Hydro are contributing to the ground and aerial search.The search continues this morning for a small plane that never arrived at Moruya airport. Photograph: David Bigwood/AlamyShareUpdated at 02.21 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureCheck out the first-ever image of a glow-in-the-dark wild eastern quoll This shot by Benjamin Alldridge, a finalist in the Beaker Street Science Photography prize, is one of several to be exhibited at Hobart’s Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery next month.A glowing wild eastern quoll. Photograph: Benjamin AlldridgeA caption accompanying the photo reads:
Where their fur is normally fawn or black, under certain wavelengths of light, they exhibit a process referred to as biofluorescence – like nature’s version of a white shirt glowing at a disco. All of the light and colour in this image is the subject’s natural glow in response to invisible UV light exploding from its natural sandy colouration. This is the first documentation of the species glowing in the wild and forms part of ongoing research into the impacts of light pollution.
You can check out some of the other prize finalists here:ShareUpdated at 03.51 BSTNSW minister used ministerial car for 456km trip to alpine town during ski seasonAnne DaviesThe New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, used a ministerial car and driver for a 456km journey from Sydney to Jindabyne in August last year.The trip to the Snowy Mountains on Thursday, 29 August 2024, was made at the height of the ski season, during the final weeks of the interschool ski races, in which Park’s son was a competitor.NSW health minister Ryan Park. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPThe trip between NSW Parliament House in Macquarie Street and the alpine town was listed in ministerial car logs released under an order for papers earlier in April. The minister’s son attended a high school in the Snowy Mountains at the time of the trip.An earlier release of travel logs in March, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, revealed Park made two trips to Thredbo in November and December of the same year, using a ministerial driver to take him to the resort town to meet his family.Ministerial cars could be used for private purposes under the rules in place until February this year.Read more here:ShareUpdated at 03.44 BSTMan fined $1,700 for travelling under friend’s name on domestic flightA Brisbane man has been convicted and fined after travelling under a friend’s name on a domestic flight, on which he allegedly referred to a bomb while speaking on his phone.Authorities said the man, 45, was found to be using the fake name in January after he boarded a flight in Sydney before being escorted from the plane for allegedly speaking about a bomb.Police said the man had travelled from Hobart to Sydney that day under the same false name. They searched the aircraft departing Sydney and found no bomb. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the allegation could not be substantiated. AFP detective, acting Insp Trevor Robinson said:
To ensure the safety of all passengers and crew on aircraft, it’s critical we know who is actually onboard.
The man pleaded guilty last month to one count of taking a flight with a ticket using false identity information and one count of using false identification information at an airport.He was fined $1,700 on Tuesday.ShareUpdated at 03.34 BSTTom McIlroyATO warns taxpayers to ‘stay one step ahead’ after 150% tax scam surgeAs Australians turn their minds to tax time, the Australian Taxation Office is warning that scammers are actively seeking new ways to exploit personal information, with a 150% rise in scams targeting taxpayers over the past year.About 90% of ATO impersonation scams target taxpayers via email, and scammers are adapting their methods to increasingly creative and fraudulent messages. A new ATO smartphone app has bolstered fraud controls in order to better detect unusual or out-of-pattern behaviour on taxpayers’ accounts. The assistant tax commissioner, Rob Thomson, said:
This is the time of year when people are awaiting their tax returns or expecting to hear from the ATO, and scammers know it. Downloading the ATO app is a simple and effective way to stay one step ahead.
If you receive a notification and something doesn’t feel right, lock your account immediately in our app, and verify and report the interaction on the ATO website or by calling 1800 467 033 during business hours to discuss any suspicious activity.
Scammers are growing more creative with their fraudulent messages. Photograph: The AGE/Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesShareUpdated at 03.16 BSTLuca IttimaniMore on June’s shock employment slump June’s surprise jump in unemployment is as much due to a slowdown in hiring as an increase in people looking for work.In the first half of 2024, Australian employers hired an extra 210,000 people. Over the same period this year, the economy has added less than 60,000 jobs.The number of employed people declined in June in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, offset by rises in Victoria, which remains the state with the highest unemployment rate.Job seekers also piled into the labour market, with the number of unemployed Australians rising to 659,600, the highest number since pandemic-era lockdowns in October 2021. The 33,600 monthly increase was the largest since April 2024.All those extra job seekers helped the workforce participation rate bounce back to 67.1% after the rate fell in May.ShareUpdated at 03.07 BSTLuca IttimaniBusinesses endure the worst conditions since 2020Australian businesses are facing their worst conditions since 2020, with sales sliding and profits narrowing, but are growing more confident about the future, new data shows.Trading conditions and employment prospects have continued to worsen, with nearly one in two businesses reporting profit margin pressure as a drag on their confidence in NAB’s quarterly business survey.Businesses reported a higher increase in labour costs in the three months to June compared to the previous period, and a rising share of employers are reporting wage costs as a top issue affecting their confidence.However, firms are increasingly optimistic about the future, with confidence reaching its highest point since 2022. Plans to invest in new capital are also on the rise, and forward orders of goods and services are picking up from their low levels.Fewer businesses said they were struggling to find workers, though the number remained higher than it had been pre-pandemic – which makes sense in light of this morning’s jobs data showing a rise in job seekers.The mining and transport sectors saw the biggest improvements in business conditions, while finance and retail experienced the worst deterioration.ShareUpdated at 03.00 BSTUnemployment rate jumps to 4.3%Luca IttimaniAustralia’s unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% in June, the highest it’s been since 2021, adding pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates.The rise surprised markets, which had been expecting unemployment to remain steady at 4.1% for the sixth consecutive month and for employers to hire an additional 21,000 people.Instead, just 2,000 extra people found work, while the number of unemployed Australians rose by 33,600.The jump in the unemployment rate has backed into market expectations that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates at its August meeting. Traders sent the Australian dollar plunging below 65 US cents after the data was released, in a sign of increased confidence the RBA will cut rates.The RBA last week surprised economists by holding rates steady at 3.85% but traders had this morning almost fully priced in a cut at the next meeting.ShareUpdated at 02.40 BSTLuca IttimaniHomebuyers flood back into market as auction clearance rate steadily rises Homebuyer desperation is surging as auction activity holds steady halfway through July, Cotality data shows. The property analyst (formerly CoreLogic) found 1,553 homes scheduled for auction across the combined capital cities in the week to Sunday.Melbourne is holding its title of most homes going under the hammer each week, with 628 up for sale. Meanwhile, Sydney has 609 homes scheduled for auction. Activity is expected to pick up, with more than 1,700 home auctions planned for next week.While the number of homes going to market is lower than it was a year ago, Reserve Bank interest rate cuts have seen homebuyers flood back into housing markets in 2025.The auction clearance rate is steadily up, closing in on a benchmark, indicating sellers are in control of the market. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesThat’s driven the auction clearance rate steadily upward over the year, towards the benchmark of 70%, which typically indicates that sellers are in control of the market.Capital city clearance rates hit 68% last week, marking the most successful auction week since March 2024, also 68%. The second week of July in 2024 saw just 63.2% of capital city auctions succeed.Further increases in auction clearances could follow additional interest rate cuts, with financial markets predicting a 90% chance the Reserve Bank will cut when its rate-setting board meets in August. We’ll get a better sense of how likely a rate cut is shortly, with the release of June’s jobs data.ShareUpdated at 02.32 BSTRescuers search for small plane missing in NSW’s Snowy MountainsA rescue team is searching for a small plane missing in New South Wales’ Snowy Mountains.Emergency services were first notified on Tuesday that the aircraft, with one person on board, was overdue arriving at the Moruya airport. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said a search was continuing this morning near Khancoban involving rescue helicopters and an agency Challenger jet. Amsa said weather conditions “are challenging with low cloud and restricted visibility”.The ABC reported the plane was flying from Wangaratta in Victoria and that NSW police said it was possible the plane had crashed near Dargals Trail in the Snowy Valleys, in the state’s south-west slopes region.NSW police, NSW SES, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Snowy Hydro are contributing to the ground and aerial search.The search continues this morning for a small plane that never arrived at Moruya airport. Photograph: David Bigwood/AlamyShareUpdated at 02.21 BSTVictorian childcare centre confirms Joshua Dale Brown fired in 2021, though not due to action towards childrenA childcare centre in Victoria confirmed it fired Joshua Dale Brown in 2021 after describing his work on an incident report as “unsatisfactory”, although the company said his dismissal was not related to any behaviour towards a child.Nido Early School said Brown worked at its facility in Werribee across 18 individual days. A spokesperson for the company said his termination at the centre, within his probationary period, “related specifically to unsatisfactory attention by the individual to an incident report concerning a child’s behaviour towards another child”. The spokesperson added:
The action did not relate to any behaviour by the individual towards a child.
We have zero tolerance for the non-compliance to our internal policies, no matter how trivial they sound to external parties. We supervise all staff closely, with additional attention given to new starters. In this case the breach of internal policy led to termination.
Nido has fully cooperated with Police and other departments.
After his termination from Nido Early School, Brown was employed at the centre where his alleged offending occurred, ABC has reported.Brown was charged earlier this month with more than 70 offences related to eight alleged victims during his work at two dozen childcare centres in Victoria.ShareUpdated at 02.17 BSTMan charged over stolen car used in Melbourne synagogue arson attackAuthorities have charged a man over his alleged involvement in the theft of a vehicle used in the arson attack at the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne last December.Previously described as a “communal crime car” by police, officials say the vehicle was also used in an arson attack at the Lux nightclub in Melbourne’s South Yarra in November as well as a shooting in Bundoora the same night as the synagogue fire.Investigators arrested a 20-year-old man in Williamstown on Wednesday. They have charged him with theft of a motor vehicle and failing to comply with an order under the Crimes Act to provide access to applications on his mobile phone. He has been granted conditional bail and will appear in court on 3 October.Police will allege the man stole the blue VW Golf sedan in late November.The nightclub fire and shooting are being investigated by Victoria police and are not considered politically motivated. The synagogue arson attack is also still under investigation by many agencies; Victoria’s joint counter-terrorism team have said the arson was likely politically motivated.More on this story:ShareUpdated at 01.48 BSTElective surgeries paused at major Queensland hospitals amid flu, Covid-19 surgeElective surgeries have been paused for 48 hours at several major Queensland hospitals overwhelmed by a surge in flu and Covid cases, the state’s health minister said yesterday.Metro North Health said emergency departments were seeing a crush of presentations, prompting category 2 and 3 elective surgeries at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, the Prince Charles, Redcliffe and Caboolture hospitals to be put on hold. The pause is meant to create bed capacity for emissions in EDs. A Metro North Health spokesperson said the system had long-established plans in place to deal with winter surges in hospitalisations, noting:
No patient requiring life-saving clinical care will ever be affected by elective surgery cancellations. Emergency surgeries and category 1 elective surgeries will continue at these hospitals, as well as all categories of elective surgery at the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).
Patients who are affected will be contacted directly.
Queensland health minister Tim Nicholls. Photograph: Darren England/AAPThe Queensland health minister, Tim Nicholls, said yesterday it was in people’s “best interest” to get vaccinated, noting jab rates are lower so far this year than in 2024. He said during a press conference:
We are seeing vaccination rates lower this year than they were the year before. And it’s particularly important for young children under the age of five and for the elderly, those over the age of 65 that they get vaccinated. And we know that 90% of the presentations to our emergency departments and those people in our hospital wards are not vaccinated.
Nicholls wrote on X that the state had seen the highest number of flu cases recorded in a single week “this year to date”. He said that while we are halfway through winter, “it’s not too late to get vaccinated”.We may be halfway through winter, but it is not too late to get vaccinated against flu.Vaccination reduces the risk of serious illness and hospitalisation and helps to stop the chain of transmission.— Tim Nicholls MP (@TimNichollsMP) July 16, 2025ShareUpdated at 01.32 BSTLuca IttimaniBirthrate falls in Australia’s biggest cities amid cost-of-living crisis, preliminary data showsBirthrates in Australia’s biggest cities continued their decline in 2024 amid sustained cost-of-living pressures, dragging the national rate to a near-record low.Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane each saw further declines in the number of children born per woman from 2023 to 2024, according to KPMG’s preliminary analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics population data, barely offset by increases in Perth and in regional Australia.The country’s fertility rate was 1.51 in 2024. Photograph: Cavan Images/Getty Images/Cavan Images RFThe analysis also found outer-suburban and regional Australians grew increasingly likely to have higher numbers of children per person than their inner-city neighbours.Overall the country’s fertility rate, or children born per woman, was 1.51 in 2024, statistically similar to the 1.5 observed in 2023 and well below the rate of 1.8 observed a decade beforehand.Read more here:ShareUpdated at 01.03 BSTQueensland man charged with indecent treatment of a child over alleged offence at childcare facilityQueensland police have charged a 21-year-old Cleveland man with an indecent treatment offence, linked to an alleged offence involving a four-year-old at a childcare facility in a suburb of Brisbane earlier this month.The incident allegedly took place on 10 July at a facility in the suburb of Tingalpa. The man has faces one charge of indecent treatment of a child. He has been given conditional bail and will appear in court on 4 August.Investigations remain ongoing.ShareUpdated at 00.36 BSTShadow education minister says opposition will work with goverment to fix childcare system that is ‘not working’Jonno Duniam, the shadow minister for education, said the growing list of childcare centres linked to the worker accused of sexual abuse, Joshua Dale Brown, lays bare a system that is “frankly not working”. Duniam spoke to RN Breakfast this morning:
There are too many gaps in reporting. There are too many gaps in information sharing between jurisdictions and indeed within jurisdictions around the sort of things you’ve just outlined for your listeners and that is incredibly distressing.
I think that the threshold for what is kept on a file and what is transmitted to future employers about potential employees and for the information of parents I think is, as I say, too low. And they’re the sorts of things that we need to see addressed here.
Shadow education minister Jonno Duniam. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPDuniam said the opposition would work with the government to see reforms passed, giving credit to federal education minister Jason Clare and saying both parties needed to step up to up safety in childcare centres. Duniam said:
We’re all bearing responsibility for this, but the reality is we now just have to hurry up and get such measures in place.
ShareTwo teens charged with murder after man found dead in Queensland front yardQueensland police have charged two teenage boys with murder after an investigation into the sudden death of a man found unresponsive in his front yard on Monday.Emergency services were called to the suburb of Warana at about 7.35pm on Monday amid reports a neighbour found the man, 57, in his front yard. The man was declared dead at the scene. Police allege a disturbance occurred at the address prior to his death, resulting in the man suffering fatal stab wounds.Detectives have charged a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy with murder. The pair are due to appear in court later today.The man was found unresponsive in his front yard on Monday. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPShareUpdated at 00.20 BSTAldi is trialling grocery delivery in Australia. We put it to the test against other supermarket giantsAldi is known for its permanently discounted prices and its famously odd products sold in the middle aisle.Last week, the German-owned supermarket chain took another step into the Australian mainstream, trialling a grocery delivery service with DoorDash in Canberra ahead of a potential expansion around the country.How does Aldi’s trial of a grocery delivery service stack up? Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesAldi has long resisted offering deliveries, given the service would make a basket of groceries more expensive, undercutting its price advantage over Coles and Woolworths.Guardian Australia tested it out. Take a look:ShareMore on the expected jobs figures due later todayThe unemployment rate has stayed at 4.1% for the past three consecutive monthly readings, AAP reports.The most recent figures in May came despite employment falling by 2,000 people, according to the bureau’s last figures.Jobs figures are set to drop at 11.30am. Photograph: Nikki Short/AAPThe Reserve Bank said in its latest monetary policy decision that labour market conditions remained tight, noting:
Measures of labour under-utilisation are at relatively low rates and business surveys and liaison suggest that availability of labour is still a constraint for a range of employers.
Alternatively, labour market outcomes may prove stronger than expected, given the signal from a range of leading indicators.
ShareUpdated at 00.55 BST
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