Government rolls out changes to power pricing rules
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) announced new rules today that will bar energy retailers from raising prices more than once per year for most people and remove fees for vulnerable customers, among other changes meant to help Australians find better energy deals.
While the changes don’t address the base price of energy, the bulk of most power bills, they will provide more information for consumers to make better choices about their providers. The changes include:
Customers cannot be charged higher prices for their loyalty and will pay no more than the standing offer price if their plan changes or expires.
The removal of unreasonably high penalties for not paying bills on time.
Restrict price increases in market retail contract from more than once every 12 months.
Prohibit fees for vulnerable customers and limit fees and charges to reasonable costs for others.
The chair of AEMC, Anna Collyer, said:
These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have greater confidence in their energy plans and that those experiencing financial difficulty receive appropriate support.
Key events
Adeshola Ore
Victoria’s crime rate jumps by more than 15%
Victoria’s crime rate has increased by more than 15%, driven by a sharp rise in theft and repeat offending. The state’s Crime Statistics Agency released the figure for the 12 months to 31 March 2015 this morning, placing further pressure on the Allan government over its law and order policies.
The rate of recorded offences increased by 15.2% when taking into account the state’s population. This equates to 8,838.7 recorded offences per 100,000 Victorians in the past 12 months. Property and deception offences had the largest increases.
Victoria police recorded 474,937 criminal incidents in the 12-month period – up more than 20% compared with the same period last year, the figures show.
The agency’s chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said:
Theft offences have continued to rise sharply, with nearly a quarter of a million offences recorded in the last year. Increases were largest for thefts from motor vehicles and retail stores, with many of these offences linked to repeat offending.
In a statement, Victoria police said the impact of the “first tranche” of the Allan government’s bail crackdown was not evident in the statistics because it only came into effect on 28 March 2025.
Three charged over alleged $10m scheme to sell counterfeit luxury goods on social media
NSW police charged three people yesterday as part of an alleged $10m scheme to sell counterfeit luxury goods on social media. Investigators allege the group made about $9.75m in profits, building a “multimillion-dollar empire by deceiving consumers and undermining legitimate businesses”, detective superintendent Peter Faux said.
Members with the organised crime squad conducted search warrants at three properties in Sydney’s west. They seized nine cars worth about $3m, more than 500 counterfeit luxury items, $270,000 in cash and a gel blaster firearm.
Three were arrested, two 30-year-old men and anther man, 33. They have been charged with dealing with property proceeds of crime, recklessly dealing in proceeds of general crime with the intent to conceal, participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity, among other charges.
Faux with NSW police alleged:
Behind the filters and followers was a sophisticated criminal enterprise exploiting digital platforms to sell counterfeit luxury goods.
Josh Butler
Wong says negotiations should continue amid worries of regional escalation
Wong said Australia agreed with Trump in saying negotiations should continue. She added:
First, we agree with president Trump, nothing is too late, Iran has a choice here and the choice should be to return to the table and engage in dialogue and diplomacy. We see the situation there and as tough as their words might be, I think we all know the situation that they face and it’s time for them to return to the table.
Obviously, in relation to the region more broadly, what we have always been concerned about is the risk of regional escalation, of this conflict getting larger, spreading, the consequences for all the peoples of the region and more broadly, the globe.
Asked what Australia would do if asked for help by the United States, Wong responded: “We’re not a central player in the Middle East, obviously. We’re a long way from this conflict.” She went on:
But it does affect, as you know, regional stability and global stability. It also affects Australians. And I do want to say … I really feel for the many Australians who have family, relatives in Israel and Iran and the region more broadly.
And as well, of course, we are focused on those Australians who are in Israel and Iran and who have registered with us seeking consular assistance. That’s my focus right now.
Josh Butler
Penny Wong says it’s not too late for Iran to come to negotiating table
Penny Wong says it is not too late for Iran to return to the negotiating table and avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East. The foreign affairs minister said she was concerned about the war spilling into the wider region and affecting people around the world.
But Wong wouldn’t say how Australia would respond if Donald Trump asked for help in any US military involvement in the conflict, saying Australia was “a long way from this conflict”.
Wong joined Sunrise this morning on Channel Seven, where she again voiced alarm about the Middle East situation. She said:
The world does certainly face a dangerous moment. But our message to Iran, along with so many countries of the world, is it’s time to stop any nuclear program and it’s time to come to the table.
Iran must return to the table and it must stop any production of nuclear weapons.
Stolen vehicle recovered after being driven through shopping centre in Melbourne
Victoria police recovered a stolen Toyota LandCruiser after the vehicle was driven through a shopping centre in Melbourne’s Preston neighbourhood yesterday afternoon.
Officers initially responded to reports of an allegedly stolen car at the centre around 4pm on Wednesday and attempted to block it in at an outdoor car park. The LandCruiser then took what was described as “evasive action”, driving through the middle of the shopping centre.
No one was injured, although one woman was taken to the hospital in shock. Officials found the LandCruiser dumped in the suburb of Northcote about an hour later, which they believe was stolen on 2 June.
Cait Kelly
Some young carers more likely to be behind peers in literacy and numeracy, study finds
Young people who care for a member of their household at age 14-15 years are more likely to be behind their peers in literacy and numeracy, and to experience financial hardship, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). The research is based on data from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which has been following 10,000 children since 2004.
Young male carers were also, after controlling for a wide range of factors, around 1.5 years behind their peers in reading and 1.4 years behind in numeracy, and young female carers were 0.8 years behind in reading compared with their peers.
Compared with their peers, adolescents who care for a household member at least five hours per week were more likely to live in a jobless household from a young age, have significantly lower levels of household income throughout their childhood, and experience financial hardship.
Ben Edwards at Australian National University, who completed the research while at AIFS, said the latest ABS data showed there were 391,300 young carers in Australia under the age of 25: He said:
Children who later became carers were read to at ages 4-5 years far less often than their peers. This may be due to the parent having a health condition that limits their ability to take part in cognitively stimulating activities, or other factors.
Given reading to young children is arguably the most important at-home activity in terms of developmental outcomes, this is a clear signal to service providers and policymakers that gaps can start to open up at a very young age for children in households experiencing significant health issues or disability.
EU ambassador to Australia says proposed security pact needed amid high geopolitical tensions
Gabriele Visentin, the EU ambassador to Australia, says Europe is trying to step up cooperation with like-minded democracies after Anthony Albanese said the government could sign on to a new defence agreement with the bloc earlier this week. Visentin told RN Breakfast heightened tensions around the world, including Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, demonstrated the need for such pacts, saying:
We have to step up our cooperation. The geopolitical tensions are so high that therefore we really want to strengthen our relations with any other liberal democracy which shares our value and towards respect for democracy, for freedoms and as well as for prosperity, but on a rules-based international order.
That’s why we are teaming up with all the like-minded partners in the world. Especially now in the Indo-Pacific.
You can read more about that defence pact proposal here:
A short, non-exhaustive list of things Albanese could do to improve productivity
With so much talk about how to increase productivity in the economy, Greg Jericho whistles up some trademark charts this morning to suggest five things the government could do to help.
Greg suggests these could include cutting fuel tax credits, increasing research funding and finding a way to reduce the huge but nonproductive investment in property.
Read his full piece here:
Energy minister says new power bill rules will make energy system ‘fairer’
Chris Bowen, the climate change and energy minister, said while the changes to power price rules aren’t a “silver bullet”, they’re part of an ongoing process to make the energy system fairier. He told RN Breakfast:
These are important. I’m not going to pretend that they’re a silver bullet, but clearly the situation hasn’t been working …
We are taking these steps today as part of a reform process. The reforms I announced yesterday and today’s changes are part of an ongoing reform process to make the energy system better and fairer for Australians.
There’s a requirement at the moment under law that your energy bill tells you whether you’re on the best possible offer from your retailer. Many, many Australians aren’t, and that’s not good enough in my view.
Read more here:
Government rolls out changes to power pricing rules
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) announced new rules today that will bar energy retailers from raising prices more than once per year for most people and remove fees for vulnerable customers, among other changes meant to help Australians find better energy deals.
While the changes don’t address the base price of energy, the bulk of most power bills, they will provide more information for consumers to make better choices about their providers. The changes include:
Customers cannot be charged higher prices for their loyalty and will pay no more than the standing offer price if their plan changes or expires.
The removal of unreasonably high penalties for not paying bills on time.
Restrict price increases in market retail contract from more than once every 12 months.
Prohibit fees for vulnerable customers and limit fees and charges to reasonable costs for others.
The chair of AEMC, Anna Collyer, said:
These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have greater confidence in their energy plans and that those experiencing financial difficulty receive appropriate support.
Sixty firefighters respond to warehouse fire in Sydney’s Marrickville
Three industrial units were extensively damaged in a fire in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville this morning, police said. About 60 firefighters responded just before 3.30am to the blaze, where they found multiple two-storey buildings on fire.
The fire has since been contained and is under control, Fire and Rescue NSW said, and there were no injuries. An official described the site of the blaze as an industrial area with a few houses but no evacuations were needed to contain it. One of the affected units is thought to be a clothing warehouse.
Parts of Marrickville’s Cook Road will be closed this morning.
Chalmers still planning to ‘respectfully’ engage with Greens on superannuation tax reform
Chalmers has been touting the government’s upcoming economic roundtable in recent days after promising to advance bold reform during a speech at the National Press Club yesterday. He told RN plans to bring together a roundtable to craft a “targeted agenda” would help Australia weather what he described as our “major economic challenge”.
That includes the government’s plans to change the taxation on large superannuation balances. Chalmers said he would still seek to engage with the Greens, telling RN:
I will respectfully engage with the Greens and with others in the Senate to pass this legislation. We did announce this policy almost two-and-a half years ago. There has been an election in between and we’ll have the necessary conversations to try and see it passed.
Chalmers says there have been some ‘limited opportunities’ to get Australians out of Middle East
The treasurer spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the Australian government remains focused on the 1,600 people who have registered to try to get out of Iran, as well as a large number of Australians in Israel. Chalmers said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was working to make that happen, telling RN:
I know that the absolutely outstanding people of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working around the clock to get people out where they can.
There have been some limited opportunities so far, but they’ll be exploring opportunities through today as well.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news. Thanks to Martin Farrer for getting things started today. Let’s see what Thursday has in store.
Jim Chalmers is dreaming of big economic reform. But is history on his side?
Jim Chalmers talked a big game in his speech about economic reform yesterday, asking people to forget their narrow interests and consider the national interest instead.
But that, Patrick Commins argues, is a big ask in a risk-averse political climate – starting with the prime minister – when the fight over a relatively minor tweak on taxing super provoked uproar.
Read his full article here:
Adam Morton
Watt confirmed he intended to put a “broader reform package” to parliament than the shelved plan to legislate to create an EPA and to legislate for a second body, Environment Information Australia.
He said the package would include an EPA, but he had an open mind about its role, powers and scope. He thought it should also include national environment standards – as recommended in a review led by the former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Graeme Samuel – but Watt said he had not made a final decision.
The federal EPA is an important means to an end around environmental protection, but I think we also need to look at: how is the system overall going to work? And what would be the environmental standards that are expected? I think we’ve actually got a better chance of passing laws if they deal with a broader range of issues.
On whether the revamp should introduce “climate considerations” into the environment laws – as suggested by Labor MP Jerome Laxale after Watt gave the North West Shelf gas processing plant in WA conditional approval to run until 2070 – the minister said he was “not ruling anything in or out”, but the government had placed emissions reduction requirements on heavy industry through the safeguard mechanism.
The safeguard mechanism is a Coalition-era policy that Labor revamped. It requires about 200 big polluting facilities to reduce emissions intensity by 4.9% a year, either through onsite cuts or by paying for contentious carbon offsets.
The EPBC reform train is leaving the station, says Murray Watt
Adam Morton
Leaders from about 25 mostly environment and business organisations will meet with the environment minister, Murray Watt, in Canberra today to give their views on how to fix the national environment laws.
It is the first meeting of stakeholder groups on the issue since the previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, last year delayed a commitment to rewrite the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act until after the 3 May election.
A promise to create a national Environment Protection Agency was also later shelved after Anthony Albanese scuttled a potential deal with the Greens following pressure from WA.
Watt told Guardian Australia the meeting would include environment organisations, business groups, the mining industry, urban developers, renewable energy companies and first nations bodies. He said there was “very broad agreement that we desperately need change to these laws – they’re broken”.
The purpose in bringing them all together is so that people can hear each other’s perspectives, rather than being each other in their own corners, you know, fighting.
The way I’ve described it to a couple of people is: the EPBC reform train is leaving the station. We broadly know where we want to get to, but we haven’t yet defined the exact destination, and there’s an opportunity for all of these groups to be involved in shaping that final destination.
I want as many interest groups on that reform train working together as possible, rather than people choosing to stand on the platform, throwing rocks and shouting.
Iran’s ambassador appeals to government to condemn Israeli attacks
Daisy Dumas
Iran’s ambassador to Australia has called on the prime minister to condemn Israel for its attack on his country, claiming that its nuclear program is a “peaceful measure”.
Speaking with the ABC’s 7.30, Ahmad Sadeghi asked Australia, as a “friendly nation” with which Iran is in “good relation”, to recognise that the Middle Eastern nation has a right to self defence after Israel’s attack.
Speaking about the Albanese government, he said: “They have to condemn [Israel] … I ask them.”
He said Iran’s nuclear program was a “peaceful measure” and, when pushed on whether Iran was developing a nuclear weapon, he referred to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Of course not. You know it has been prohibited by our supreme leader,” the ambassador told the host, David Speers.
Sadeghi did not give a straight answer when asked whether Israel had a right to exist and said that should the US become directly involved in the Israel-Iran war, some 80,000 US personnel stationed in the Gulf region would “not be as comfortable as much as now”.
“The other the Islamic nations around the north, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in [the] southern part of the Persian Gulf. All, if Iran would be attacked by the US, they would not be silent,” he said, before urging Donald Trump to be “more careful”.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser for the bulk of proceedings.
Iran’s ambassador has called on Anthony Albanese to condemn Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic. The request adds to the prime minister’s in-tray as he heads home from an unsuccessful attempt to engage Donald Trump on tariffs, and considers his second term agenda with parliament’s first sitting just a month away.
One of the big pieces of unfinished business from Labor’s first term was the creation of an environmental protection agency. To address the issue, the environment minister, Murray Watt, is meeting leaders from about 25 mostly environment and business organisations in Canberra today to hear their views on how to fix the national environment laws. More details coming up.
