Explainer: why is Albanese ‘WA’s daddy’ this week?
Josh Butler
With all the federal focus on Western Australia in recent days, humble readers not living on the west coast may be thinking: “… why?”
Over the last week we’ve had Anthony Albanese inventing ever-more elaborate ways to promise that the federal government won’t be changing WA’s generous GST payments, bringing a full federal ministry meeting to the west again, a clutch of new agreements and funding, federal ministers tripping over themselves to lavish praise on the mining-rich state, and now even the famous Blue Poles painting being sent to Perth for a visit.
Even the always parochial West Australian newspaper was pleased with the largesse from Canberra, branding the prime minister “WA’S DADDY” in a satisfied front page today.
Of course, there are five other states and two other territories in Australia besides WA. So why the focus on Perth?
First and most obviously, West Australians are pretty proud of their state and economy. The mining state is, as Albanese and his team regularly boast, “the engine room of the Australian economy”, and they like being reminded of that fact.
But Albanese, of course, has history with WA. Students of recent political history may remember that it was an unexpectedly strong showing in WA’s seats which got Albanese’s Labor over the line in the 2022 election, flipping a few more seats than they planned and essentially winning power for the ALP. That included launching the national campaign in Perth (a decision repeated in 2025) and a special ad campaign just for the west coast.
Some Labor people believe WA remains a key to their grip on power, and that heaping lavish praise on the west can help keeps the Liberals out of power; Albanese famously begins most of his media appearances in the west by keeping a tally of how many times he’s visited (this is his 45th visit as PM, he said on Monday)
WA also still remains a Labor fortress at the state level, with former premier Mark McGowan (referred to for a time as “state daddy” in the west) winning a landslide victory in 2021 then handing over to current leader Roger Cook. It doesn’t hurt for federal Labor to cosy up to an already-popular state government.
Key events
Patrick Commins
RBA has its finger on the rates trigger, board minutes show
The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy board remains unconvinced that inflation will return to target by the end of next year, and is ready to hike rates again if it sees any evidence that price pressures are coming in hotter than expected.
The RBA held its cash rate at 4.35% at its most recent meeting, even as Michele Bullock, the governor, warned after the decision that it was “quite possible” that there would be another hike.
Minutes from that meeting released this morning revealed board members believe that inflation, while still too high at 3.8%, is tracking as predicted and should return to the 2.5% target by late 2027.
But the board is aware they have little wriggle room to achieve their mandate in a “timely” fashion, the minutes show, and are ready to act if needed. The minutes read:
Several members judged that it was quite possible that the upside risks to the inflation forecast would crystallise, requiring some further tightening. Other members noted the potential for downside risks to offset them.
All members agreed that, given prevailing uncertainties, upcoming decisions would benefit from additional information that could strengthen their conviction about the outlook for inflation.
So it’s watch and wait, the minutes show, and the board “will continue to do what it considers necessary to achieve that outcome, including increasing the cash rate target if upside risks materialise”.
Most economists don’t expect another rate hike this year, but financial markets early this morning were pricing in a 64% chance of an increase by December.
The ABS will release its latest monthly inflation figures at 11:30am tomorrow.
Major home builder Bathla Group collapses, leaving buyers in limbo
Embattled home builder Bathla Group has been placed into voluntary administration, leaving customers in limbo in what it says is a “perfect storm” of circumstances, AAP reports.
Founder and director Bhart Bhushan described the move to voluntary administration as an “orderly restructure of business”.
“Our first thoughts are with our employees and the customers who have put their faith in us to deliver their dream of home ownership,” Bhushan said in a statement on Tuesday.
It is my sincere hope this process can allow that to happen by working collaboratively with the administrators, our suppliers, contractors and lending partners.
Bhushan said the group had confronted a perfect storm of circumstances that contributed to its struggles. These include a significant softening in sales, impacts from the changes made in the federal government’s May budget and falling confidence in key markets.
He also said significant increases in construction costs absorbed by his company played a part.
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Explainer: why is Albanese ‘WA’s daddy’ this week?
Josh Butler
With all the federal focus on Western Australia in recent days, humble readers not living on the west coast may be thinking: “… why?”
Over the last week we’ve had Anthony Albanese inventing ever-more elaborate ways to promise that the federal government won’t be changing WA’s generous GST payments, bringing a full federal ministry meeting to the west again, a clutch of new agreements and funding, federal ministers tripping over themselves to lavish praise on the mining-rich state, and now even the famous Blue Poles painting being sent to Perth for a visit.
Even the always parochial West Australian newspaper was pleased with the largesse from Canberra, branding the prime minister “WA’S DADDY” in a satisfied front page today.
Of course, there are five other states and two other territories in Australia besides WA. So why the focus on Perth?
First and most obviously, West Australians are pretty proud of their state and economy. The mining state is, as Albanese and his team regularly boast, “the engine room of the Australian economy”, and they like being reminded of that fact.
But Albanese, of course, has history with WA. Students of recent political history may remember that it was an unexpectedly strong showing in WA’s seats which got Albanese’s Labor over the line in the 2022 election, flipping a few more seats than they planned and essentially winning power for the ALP. That included launching the national campaign in Perth (a decision repeated in 2025) and a special ad campaign just for the west coast.
Some Labor people believe WA remains a key to their grip on power, and that heaping lavish praise on the west can help keeps the Liberals out of power; Albanese famously begins most of his media appearances in the west by keeping a tally of how many times he’s visited (this is his 45th visit as PM, he said on Monday)
WA also still remains a Labor fortress at the state level, with former premier Mark McGowan (referred to for a time as “state daddy” in the west) winning a landslide victory in 2021 then handing over to current leader Roger Cook. It doesn’t hurt for federal Labor to cosy up to an already-popular state government.
Facial recognition to be mandatory in NSW gaming rooms under new gambling reforms
Achol Arok
NSW gaming rooms will be required to introduce facial-recognition technology when a statewide exclusion register is introduced in 2028 under new gambling reforms announced on Tuesday.
The raft of reforms will also include a third-party exclusion scheme in hotels and clubs, an increased forfeiture rate for the state’s 87,000 poker machines and an end to gambling VIP programs.
A crackdown on gambling advertising will include a ban on ads on all NSW government and council-owned assets, as well as a ban on unsolicited direct marketing to potential customers.
The government said it will also establish a state-based strategy to reduce online gambling harm. Announcing the package, the gaming and racing minister, David Harris, said:
These are common sense reforms that have been developed alongside industry, harm minimisation groups, stakeholders and privacy experts to address gambling harm while supporting the industry and protecting the livelihoods of the many people it employs.
By combining new technology, stronger exclusion tools, strengthened regulation and increased funding for harm reduction, we are building a safer system for the future.
Cait Kelly
Women’s Legal Centre calls for reform to help survivors of sexual assault come forward
Elena Rosenman, CEO of Women’s Legal Centre ACT, has said the greatest motivation for people coming forward is wanting to prevent other people from experiencing the same thing.
The barriers to reporting are structural: the lack of control and of agency in the process, lengthy timeframes that put people’s whole lives on hold often for years, and anxiety about court processes that can retraumatise with no promise of accountability.
We have seen quantifiable increases in requests for assistance in the wake of high-profile cases. Here in Canberra, we began advocating for the establishment of the Sexual Violence Legal Service after tracking the rise in requests for assistance following the advocacy of Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame. High-profile cases can cut both ways. They give people the confidence to come forward, but as these processes extend and become more public, they also show just how gruelling that scrutiny can be, and that’s part of what people weigh up before deciding to report.
Women’s Legal Services has estimated they turn away about 1,000 women every week for capacity and other reasons. The story is similar across community, legal aid and First Nations legal services, she said.
People who have been subjected to violence should seek the assistance that best meets their needs. There are specialist sexual assault support services across the country, and we strongly encourage people to get their own legal advice, either before or as part of reporting. Sexual Violence Legal Services are already operating here in Canberra, as well as in Victoria and WA, with services being established in other jurisdictions.
Christopher Knaus
Family of wrongly arrested Indigenous teen welcome report
The family of a 17-year-old Indigenous teenager have welcomed a damning report finding police wrongly identified their nephew as a suspect and forced him off a bus at gunpoint in Canberra.
The teenager, referred to by the pseudonym Jay, was travelling on a bus in Woden in late 2025 when police boarded the bus with guns drawn. The officers wrongly believed Jay was a suspect in an aggravated burglary. They took him off the bus, brought him to the ground, handcuffed and arrested him.
Police realised their mistake within 90 seconds, but decided to search him anyway before releasing him back on to the bus.
In a report released on Tuesday, Iain Anderson, the commonwealth and ACT ombudsman, found the AFP had “no clearly understood definition of ‘racial profiling’” and had conducted the additional search “inappropriately and seemingly unlawfully”.
In a statement, Jay’s family said he was simply trying to travel to his Aunty’s house and was “compliant and polite during the entire incident”, despite having done nothing wrong.
The failures are numerous and deeply concerning. They include a complete failure to provide any care to our nephew after subjecting him to a traumatic incident despite knowing he was a child, making public statements after the incident which inappropriately attempted to downplay and diminish the incident and an apparent failure of the AFP internally to understand what racial profiling is.
Last year, the ACT’s chief police officer, Scott Lee, apologised for the incident and acknowledged the trauma it would have caused Jay, his family and the broader Indigenous community.
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
Matthew Guy says Victorian Labor’s $2bn savings on Suburban Rail Loop ‘unimpressive and underwhelming’
The Victorian opposition’s transport infrastructure spokesperson, Matthew Guy, described premier Ben Carroll’s announcement this morning – that $2bn in savings will be found on the Suburban Rail Loop project – as “incredibly unimpressive and underwhelming”.
Carroll is reportedly not a fan of the proposed 90km orbital train line that will eventually travel from Cheltenham to Werribee, via the north-east suburbs and the Melbourne Airport. But on Tuesday he said it’s going ahead with a reducton of scope, saving $1bn, and he’s ordered a technical review he says will save another $1bn.
Guy said this is not good enough. He told reporters outside parliament:
This premier and this government is in complete chaos … They say that the Suburban Rail Loop’s on, then it’s off, then it’s on, partly on, bits are going to be saved. Look, I think Victorians are sick to death of being taken by mugs by this government. A change in premier is not a change in government. It’s the same old tired government that we’ve had for 12 years. I think we’re sick of them.
He said the premier cannot claim he “respects” Victorians’ money while refusing to outline how he will save $2bn on the project, citing cabinet in confidence.
If you’re going to try and make a virtue of saving money and make some broad comments about scrapping connectivity between stations, well, Victorians deserve to know not just the details of what you’re going to try and save money on, but how about show us the contracts? … Not take your word for the fact that you might save a bit.
Guy said the opposition will pause and review the project if elected, then provide an update on whether the project can proceed.
Australia needs 5,700 new donors of O-type blood
Australia needs thousands more regular donors of O-type blood in the coming week amid supply pressures, including seasonal illness.
Lifeblood said it needs 5,700 more donors of the blood type in the next seven days, which is used in emergency situations when a patient’s blood group is not known.
The appeal comes amid a push from three different nations: Australia, Canada and the England. Cath Stone, the chief customer officer of Lifeblood, said the joint ask was about leveraging a united front in the call for more donors:
Millions of people across our countries are eligible to donate blood, but only a small proportion do. Blood donation is one of the simplest ways people can make a real difference. We need more people to take that first step and become donors.
Luca Ittimani
Coles ‘looking at’ facial surveillance tech to combat theft and threats
Coles says it’s interested in facial recognition technology to combat theft and threats in the retail industry, which it attributes to the rising cost of living.
The supermarket giant and its competitor, Woolworths, are both considering increased surveillance methods but have said they have not implemented them, as we reported here:
Leah Weckert, Coles’ chief executive, told reporters today the company had looked at a proof-of-concept but not trialled the tech. She said:
Like I think many retailers, we are looking at it and understanding the technical aspects of it, because we are interested in making sure that our team are as safe as possible. …
It’s something that we are working to understand more at the moment. Wouldn’t rule it out going forward but it’s not something that we’ve got imminently on our plan either.
Weckert said theft and loss had been stable in Coles supermarkets this year after increased use of other technologies, including smart gates, security tags, and cameras in checkouts.
But the broader retail industry was reporting “a slight uptick in theft and threatening situations,” which she said was “broadly consistent with an increase in focus on cost of living again”.
Cait Kelly
Progress between generations breaking down, Anglicare Australia executive says
Back to the report showing today’s young people are the first generation to earn less than their parents at the same age:
Anglicare Australia’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said the findings show that progress between generations is breaking down.
For generations, Australians could expect that if they worked hard, they would become more secure over time. That promise is no longer holding for young people.
Young Australians are doing everything we ask of them. They are studying, working and contributing. But they are earning less than the generations before them, being locked out of housing, and struggling to build the security that past generations took for granted. The economic foundations underneath them have shifted.
One of the clearest places to start is Youth Allowance. We have a social security system that literally says a young person needs less money to live on simply because of their age. Our findings show they can’t afford rent on Youth Allowance anywhere in the country.
Benita Kolovos
Ben Carroll says Suburban Rail Loop savings will axe some ‘nice to haves’
Victoria premier Ben Carroll is holding a press conference to announce $1bn in savings to the costly and controversial Suburban Rail Loop and a review to find $1bn more. The new Victorian premier says while the project is “needed” for the state’s future, he has worked to “save every dollar”.
Carroll says:
My first press conference, I said I would look at this project in depth. Here I am within a month, having found substantial savings just by doing a thorough financial audit. That is just the finances. Now I am committed to doing a technical audit and an engineering audit, where I do believe we’ll be able to find additional savings.
He says the $1bn saved is through “commonsense” changes in scope that removes “bells and whistles”:
Overpasses, walkways, car parks, community grants are nice to haves, but they are not needed to build the orbital railway line.
The technical report will be completed in three to six months – after the November state election – with no further contracts signed beforehand. Tunnelling will begin as planned.
Carroll says his approach is more financially responsible than the opposition’s pledge to pause works and review the project if elected. He says:
I’m a premier that will stick to contracts and won’t rip them up. What the opposition do by pausing this project, it will cost millions of dollars a day. They are saying they will pause and review.
It is economic vandalism [what] the opposition are proposing. For the party that’s meant to be the party of financial responsibility, they do not know what they’re doing or talking about, and it shows again how they talk amongst themselves, but do not talk to stakeholders, whether they’re engineers, legal experts, nurses or doctors.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian premier Ben Carroll pushes ahead with rail loop plan after hinting at pause
The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has made an about-face, committing to pushing ahead with the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop while promising to reduce its total cost by about 6%.
Carroll will on Tuesday announce changes to the scope of the first stage of the project, known as SRL East – a 26km stretch of tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill – estimated to save $1bn.
He will also order an “independent, technical review” to identify a further $1bn in savings.
Read more here:
Coles blames Ooshies for hurting its sales as it reports $1.09bn profit
Luca Ittimani
Coles reported growing profit from its supermarkets despite a slump in alcohol sales and a delayed hit from Woolworths’ Disney “Ooshie” giveaways.
The company today said it grown supermarket sales by 3.7% and gained market share over the year to June. Growth had continued into July but slumped amid a “competitor’s collectibles campaign” – a reference to the “Ooshie” plastic figurines.
Coles said its digital sales boomed 26.4%, to $5.6bn, helped by a partnership with Uber Eats and improved wait times for store-based click and collect orders. Its own-brand product sales grew 6.1%, with the company singling out its cleaning, baby and ready meal range.
The company said the prices of its supermarket products rose just 1.5% through the year. Supermarkets’ own calculation methods for inflation are not necessarily intuitive.
Its net profit bumped up 1% to $1.09bn as a result. Profit would have been $1.25bn if not for a penalty from a federal court ruling over its payment of managers.
But liquor sales fell 3.3% from the prior year. The company said “subdued consumer sentiment” and cost of living pressures were to blame. Its competitor Endeavour, owner of Dan Murphy’s and BWS, reported a steep fall in annual profit yesterday.
Cait Kelly
Today’s young people the first generation to earn less than their parents at the same age, report reveals
Today’s young people are the first generation to earn less than the generation before them at the same age, and they’re still behind at 30, a new report reveals.
Young people are also being forced to cut spending on both essentials and luxuries, while older people are increasing spending across the board
Home ownership for 25-34-year-olds is below 40%, back to 1940s levels, and not one of 48,776 rental listings was affordable for someone on Youth Allowance
Young people are more than twice as likely as over-65s to experience serious psychological distress. This is borne out by data from Anglicare Australia services.
Primary repair on Sydney train line finished with normal service to resume this morning
Matt Longland, the chief executive of Sydney Trains, said primary repairs are complete after widespread train cancellations on the North Shore line due to an issue with a counterweight at a major train hub in Chatswood.
Longland told ABC Radio Sydney there is still a bit of secondary work to do before power can be turned back on and trains can be reenergised. Sydney Trains are hoping things will be back to normal later this morning.
Longland said:
We’ve obviously worked very closely with Sydney Metro, who have got extra services in place on the Sydney Metro network to keep passengers flowing towards the city.
