Man charged over stolen car used in Melbourne synagogue arson attack
Authorities 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.
Key events
Victorian childcare centre confirms Joshua Dale Brown fired in 2021, though not due to action towards children
A 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.
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.
Man charged over stolen car used in Melbourne synagogue arson attack
Authorities 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.
Elective surgeries paused at major Queensland hospitals amid flu, Covid-19 surge
Elective 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.
The 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, 2025
Luca Ittimani
Birthrate falls in Australia’s biggest cities amid cost-of-living crisis, preliminary data shows
Birthrates 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 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:
Queensland man charged with indecent treatment of a child over alleged offence at childcare facility
Queensland 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.
Shadow 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.
Duniam 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.
Two teens charged with murder after man found dead in Queensland front yard
Queensland 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.
Aldi is trialling grocery delivery in Australia. We put it to the test against other supermarket giants
Aldi 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.
Aldi 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:
More on the expected jobs figures due later today
The 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.
The 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.
Marles says government’s position on Taiwan is ‘clear’
Richard Marles was also asked about criticism from the Coalition about the government’s stance on Taiwan, after the shadow defence minister, Angus Taylor, said this week Australia should be prepared to make “principled commitments” to its security and be prepared “to act” if needed.
Marles told RN:
We do not support any unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Now, that’s been the very clear and simple position of this government since we came to power, but to be honest, it’s been the position, the bipartisan position, of Coalition and Labor governments now for a long period of time …
This government is going to maintain what has been the position of the Australian government for a very long period of time, and that is to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
PM raised ‘delicate’ matter of Yang Hengjun with Beijing, Marles says
Richard Marles was asked about the case of jailed Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun, who was given a suspended death sentence by a Chinese court in 2024 on espionage charges, which he denies. The defence minister told RN:
The prime minister made clear that he raised Dr Yang’s case in his meeting with President Xi. It’s important that we have consistency in terms of continuing to raise this case, but it’s also important that we are prudent in the way in which we talk about this and what we want to see, obviously, is an outcome in terms of this consular case.
These matters are delicate, but you can look at what the government has done over the last few years in terms of how we have been able to manage other consular cases.
Marles also alluded to the delicate nature of diplomacy when asked about the Port of Darwin, which is held by a Chinese-owned company. Anthony Albanese has said he wants the port in Australian hands again, a position Marles said the government maintained:
In terms of the Port of Darwin, we have consistently said that it shouldn’t have been sold to that interest when it was by the former Coalition government, and that we want to see the Port of Darwin return to Australian hands, and that’s the course that we are pursuing now.
Marles says government needs to do ‘everything within our power’ to ensure safety in childcare
Richard Marles said the government was actively looking at ways to ensure children’s safety in childcare centres, saying the commonwealth needed to “everything within our power to clearly make sure that children are safe” in both the education and childcare systems. He was asked about the push for a register or database of childcare workers, telling RN Breakfast:
We think this is a step that would help advance the case of child safety within childcare systems, and we will work with the states to see how we can put that in place in an expeditious way.
I think we are all looking at ways in which we can take this forward and make sure that children are as safe as possible within childcare centres. And the revelations that we have seen in the last couple of weeks are obviously sickening. And as we continue to learn about how best to do this, we need to be making sure that we are exercising our powers in a way which keeps kids safe in childcare.
Marles says PM’s visit to China part of effort to improve engagement with Beijing
The defence minister, Richard Marles, said Australia’s relationship with China is “obviously complex” but that the nation benefited by engaging with Beijing, and building better communication channels remains “really important”. Marles spoke to ABC RN as prime minister Anthony Albanese wraps up his visit, saying:
There is opportunity here, but at the same time, there are also challenges, and even in the national security space, whilst the challenges that we see there aren’t resolved, building better communication channels is really important …
For all the complexities of our relationship with China, it is benefited by engagement. That’s what other countries are doing, and that’s what we seek to do. And the annual leaders’ meeting, which is what this is, is a really important part of that.
Marles pointed to the trade relationship between Australia and China, which has been “much to the benefit of the Australian economy”. The deputy prime minister added:
Engagement with China matters, and what is a complex and challenging relationship to manage is benefited from that engagement. And that’s really as simple as it gets. And in that sense, I think the visit that Anthony Albanese’s had to China has advanced all of that and has been very successful.
Falconio’s parents express ‘relief’ after Bradley Murdoch’s death
The parents of Peter Falconio, the British backpacker murdered in 2001 by Bradley Murdoch, said they still hold out hope their son’s remains will be found. Joan and Luciano Falconio released a statement after Murdoch died this week from throat cancer at 67, having never revealed the location of their son’s body.
The parents said their first feeling after the news was one of relief:
Upon hearing that Bradley John Murdoch had died our first feeling was of relief, it’s like a weight that’s been lifted. We are only forced to think about him now that he’s died, we don’t want to let him to ruin our lives more than he already has. The awful thing is our family’s future with Peter was cruelly taken away.
Today we instead focus on the three children we have left and our grandchildren. We didn’t have much faith but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died. But even now we still hold out hope that his remains will be found.
The family thanked the NT police for their continued efforts to investigate the murder.
Good morning
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news, pandas included. Let’s get to it.
Economists await jobs figures for interest rate indications
The Reserve Bank will have a keen eye on fresh data on Australia’s jobs market as its next decision on interest rates draws closer, AAP reports.
Labour force figures for June will be released at 11.30am AEST by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and are tipped to show the unemployment rate remaining at 4.1% for the month.
The predictions come despite a tightening of the jobs market.
The Reserve Bank would continue to closely monitor the jobless rate before its next meeting in August, NAB’s head of Australian economics, Gareth Spence, said.
“I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,” he said.
“The timing of cuts is not super important. It’s more about where do they end up.”
In a move that shocked analysts and disappointed mortgage holders, the RBA kept the cash rate steady at 3.85% at its last board meeting on 8 July.
Most economists had pencilled in a 25 basis point cut on the back of slowing inflation growth.
Albanese to wrap up China visit in Chengdu
Pandas and bionic ears are on Anthony Albanese’s agenda as his six-day tour of China reaches its final leg, Australian Associated Press reports.
The prime minister touched down in Chengdu in China’s south-west yesterday afternoon, where he announced the Sichuan capital would be given hosting rights to an Australian Open wildcard playoff tournament for a second year running.
In the sweltering 37C heat, the prime minister turned down the offer of a hit on centre court, instead hailing the role of sport in boosting people-to-people and cultural links between Australia and China.
“I know that my dear friend [former professional tennis player] Glenn Busby comes here and coaches and spends a lot of time here each year, and he tells me that China will dominate the sport in the years to come,” he said.
Chengdu, home to 21 million residents, is best known outside China as the home of giant pandas.
Albanese will visit a breeding research centre at the forefront of efforts to save the species from extinction.
As well as a beloved cultural icon, pandas are a central part of China’s efforts to exert soft power in the world.
In a meeting with local party secretary Wang Xiaohui, Mr Albanese said pandas “have been such an important feature” of building positive relations between Australia and China.
He noted the two new pandas who were loaned to Adelaide zoo in 2024, in the most recent example of “panda diplomacy”.
“I thank this province for our two newest guests who have been so well received,” he said.
But Chengdu has another, arguably more impactful, connection to Australia.
Cochlear, the Australian hearing device company, bases a manufacturing and research plant in the city, which the prime minister will visit today.
More than 50,000 Chinese patients have had hearing loss restored by a Cochlear device, making it one of the company’s largest markets.
German backpacker Carolina Wilga leaves hospital after outback ordeal
Jordyn Beazley
A German backpacker who was lost in the Australian outback for 11 nights has been discharged from hospital.
Carolina Wilga hit her head in a car crash and left her car in a “state of confusion” before going missing in the Western Australian outback.
A desperate search for the 26-year-old began when her family and friends raised the alarm after not hearing from her.
She was discharged from Perth’s Fiona Stanley hospital on Wednesday.
More on Wilga’s ordeal in the outback here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser to be your news guide.
Anthony Albanese will wrap up his visit to China in Chengdu today. The south-west city of 21 million people is best known for its pandas and spicy Sichuan food, but it is also where Cochlear, the Australian hearing device company, has a manufacturing and research facility, which the prime minister will visit today. More coming up.
The Reserve Bank and economists will be watching today’s jobs figures for another clue as to where the economy is headed. It comes after the shock decision by the bank to keep rates steady this month. More on that shortly.
