Japan wins $10bn contract to build Australian naval ships
Tom McIlroy
The defence minister, Richard Marles, will announce this morning that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build the Royal Australian Navy’s new $10bn frigate fleet.
The Japanese company beat out Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems for the deal.
Marles and the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, will make the announcement just before 9am this morning.
The national security committee of cabinet made the decision last night, choosing the Japanese-built Mogami frigate.
The first three frigates will be built overseas before being brought to Australia by 2029. The rest are expected to be built at the Henderson shipyards in Perth.
The new general purpose warships are designed to replace the ageing Anzac-class frigates, as they are retired from service by the navy.
Key events
Nyrstar gets $135m bailout from federal, state governments
The metal producer Nyrstar will get a $135m bailout from a coalition of the federal government and the governments of South Australia and Tasmania, which will support the company’s Port Pirie facility in SA.
Nyrstar said in June its lead smelter in Port Pirie was losing tens of millions of dollars a month, saying the future of its zinc smelter in Hobart was linked to the success of the one in SA. It called on urgent government intervention, the ABC reported at the time.
The federal government will kick in $57.5m, South Australia $55m and Tasmania $22.5m. SA premier Peter Malinauskas said in a news conference:
This $55 million contribution from the South Australian government is part of a $135 million package that’s all about setting up Port Pirie for a more prosperous future. We know there is a journey in front of us to be able to tackle the challenges we see, particularly coming out of China. But we should be upfront and honest about them.
Andrew Messenger
First Nations group lodges legal action to halt Olympic stadium development
A First Nations’ group has lodged legal action in the federal court to halt development of an Olympic stadium in inner-city Brisbane.
Victoria Park is slated to play host to both the 2032 opening and closing ceremonies, at a brand-new 63,000 seat stadium, among other venues. The state government recently passed legislation overruling a swathe of state laws to get around a mooted legal challenge, including heritage, planning and environment acts.
The Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation and advocacy group Save Victoria Park made an application under section 10 of the federal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, which allows the commonwealth to declare long-term protection of a significant Aboriginal area.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, ruled out a stadium in the park during last years’ state election. YMAC spokesperson and Yagarabul elder Gaja Kerry Charlton said:
We know this is a place of great significance and history, not only for Yagara people, but for other First Nations and non-Aboriginal people as well.
It was a complete shock when the premier came out with his stadium plans. He said the park would be protected from stadiums; I thought the park was safe. Now the government wants to destroy it. We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important ecosystems existing there. There may be ancestral remains.
An updated on SES rescues during flooding in NSW the last few days
The NSW State Emergency Service received more than 4,300 calls and responded to more than 2,300 incidents over the last few days amid intense rainfall across parts of the state. That included 34 flood rescues.
Parts of low-lying areas in Gunnedah remain under evacuation orders, and the SES is moving assets to some areas near Wee Waa and Narrabri in anticipation of possible river rises as flood waters move downstream. But flooding is easing in the Hunter.
Still, more than 40 warnings are still in place across the mid-north coast, the upper Hunter and New England regions. You can see how those affect your area at the Hazard Watch site.
Josh Taylor
NBN picks Amazon’s Kuiper to replace satellite service
The 300,000 homes in regional and remote parts of Australia that were only able to access the NBN via the ageing Skymuster satellites will be able to upgrade to low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services beginning mid-2026 under a deal signed between NBN Co and Amazon.
Despite hundreds of thousands of Australians already switching to Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon won out the deal to provide LEO services to the 300,000 homes covered by the Skymuster satellites that will be decommissioned in 2030, following a request for proposal process. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but NBN chief executive Ellie Sweeney said the agreement would be funded by NBN Co rather than needing a cash injection from taxpayers.
The services will begin to come online mid-2026, starting in Tasmania, as Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites begin to cover Australia. Full coverage should take weeks, the company said.
NBN Co will begin consultation with communities and retail service providers in the coming weeks on product offerings, speed tiers, wholesale pricing and the upgrade process required for those on the existing satellite service. Users on Starlink today pay a premium for the service compared with NBN pricing, and Sweeney said equity would be an important feature in the pricing so someone in regional Australia has the same level of service as someone in metropolitan areas.
Sweeney said:
It’s now time to evolve, with full fibre in many areas, in upgraded fixed wireless in others and now with LEO satellites, we’re committed to ending buffering in the bush.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland government releases second damning report into state DNA lab
Queensland’s state government has released more information about the work of its public DNA laboratory.
Yesterday’s review by forensic scientist Prof Kirsty Wright found that virtually all forensic science work done at the laboratory was being done late, typically by hundreds of days.
A second review, by FBI expert Dr Bruce Budowle, found the service remains “in a state of sustained crisis”. He found that scientific methods had been implemented “without proper validation”, risking the “integrity” of the results, but others not adopted due to “perceived or real challenges” which could have been overcome. Budowle said:
The workplace culture at FSQ appeared to the Review Team to be quite toxic.
A pair of commissions of inquiry in 2022 and 2023 uncovered systematic errors within the laboratory – including an error which called into question DNA evidence used in thousands of criminal cases, including for crimes such as rape and murder. Wright found the same error had been repeated again last year. She recommended contracting out most of the work done by the lab to outside laboratories while it undertakes reform.
Jordyn Beazley
Motion to be moved by NSW Labor MPs condemns ‘ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Gaza’
Guardia Australia has obtained a copy of the motion NSW Labor MPs are planning to move in a party meeting today condemning conditions in Gaza and endorsing the right to protest.
The motion, to be moved by upper house member Sarah Kaine and seconded by MP Lynda Voltz, moves that the caucus:
Condemns the destruction of Gaza, the mass civilian deaths and the Israeli government’s open endorsement of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Gaza.
Condemns all crimes against humanity, including genocide, the murder of civilians and the hostage taking.
Thanks the people of Sydney for the mass protest rally conducted peacefully on Sunday.
Endorses the right to protest
Requests the attorney general to report back to caucus with an options paper for the development of a Human Rights Act in this term of the parliament, which we note the attorney has already said he supports.
My colleague Anne Davies had more on this story yesterday:
Police divers aiding search for woman swept away in NSW floods
Police divers are joining the search for a woman swept away by flood waters on Saturday near Cessnock in NSW.
Rescuers have been searching for the 26-year-old woman for days after responding to reports a car was trapped in a flood in the town of Rothbury. Officers said the driver of the car, a Mini Countryman, attempted to travel through flood waters before becoming stuck. The driver, a 27-year-old woman, was rescued, but the passenger was swept away.
The missing woman is a Chinese national who was working as an engineer in Australia, where she has lived for three years.
Anne Davies
NSW opposition supports Ward’s expulsion
Mark Speakman, leader of the NSW opposition, said he will support the government in seeking Gareth Ward’s expulsion.
Speakman said:
The opposition will support Gareth Ward’s expulsion and work with the government to get this done as quickly as possible. However, Mr Ward’s legal team should do whatever it takes to get a clear message to him – immediately resign.
Every day he clings to his seat from a jail cell, taxpayers are footing the bill and the people of Kiama are left voiceless. It’s not just wrong, it’s offensive.
Ward’s conviction has thrown the NSW parliament into uncharted territory. As an independent he has not had the usual pressure to resign. He remains eligible to sit in parliament until all appeals are exhausted. However, the parliament has power to expel him if his conduct would damage the integrity of the parliament and endanger its proper functioning.
The government had planned to begin moves to expel him today with a vote expected Wednesday.
Gareth Ward seeks injunction blocking expulsion from NSW parliament
Anne Davies
Convicted rapist MP Gareth Ward has sought an injunction to stop him being expelled from the New South Wales parliament, which will see him remain, for now, the state member for Kiama.
Ward has commenced the proceedings via his lawyers from Silverwater jail where he has been remanded pending sentence in the criminal proceedings in September. He has said he will appeal against his conviction on three counts of indecent assault and one for sexual intercourse without consent.
The premier, Chris Minns, said on 2GB on Tuesday that Ward’s lawyers had sought the interim injunction overnight against the leader of the lower house, Ron Hoenig, and speaker, Greg Piper, which prevented the parliament moving a suspension order until the court can deal with the application. The government has sought an urgent supreme court hearing later in the week.
Minns told 2GB:
We’ve got a week of parliament to sit, and I think that most people would appreciate, it’s an unconscionable situation to have someone who’s currently sitting in jail in Silverwater, convicted of serious sexual offences, who is demanding to remain a member of parliament and continue to be paid.
Melbourne Demons sack coach Simon Goodwin
Simon Goodwin, Melbourne’s only AFL premiership coach in the past 60 years, has been sacked by the Demons, AAP reports.
The former Adelaide champion, who led the club to its drought-breaking 2021 flag, has been let go by the Demons after just seven wins this season.
Taking over from Paul Roos in a succession plan for the 2017 season, Goodwin led Melbourne to their first premiership in 57 years.
But off-field turmoil and dwindling performances on the field placed the 48-year-old’s job in jeopardy.
My colleague Jack Snape has more on this story here:
All Sydney ferries back up and running after heavy fog
All ferries in Sydney have resumed services after they were halted amid heavy fog.
✔️ UPDATE: All F3 Parramatta River services have resumed following heavy fog earlier.
— Sydney Ferries Info (@FerriesInfo) August 4, 2025
Here are some photos from the Kirribilli wharf this morning, with the Sydney Opera House in the distance.
Here’s some video footage of Sydney Harbour this morning
Japan wins $10bn contract to build Australian naval ships
Tom McIlroy
The defence minister, Richard Marles, will announce this morning that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build the Royal Australian Navy’s new $10bn frigate fleet.
The Japanese company beat out Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems for the deal.
Marles and the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, will make the announcement just before 9am this morning.
The national security committee of cabinet made the decision last night, choosing the Japanese-built Mogami frigate.
The first three frigates will be built overseas before being brought to Australia by 2029. The rest are expected to be built at the Henderson shipyards in Perth.
The new general purpose warships are designed to replace the ageing Anzac-class frigates, as they are retired from service by the navy.
Jordyn Beazley
So, just how big was the march on the Sydney Harbour Bridge?
The number of people who joined a pro-Palestine march across Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday exceeded everyone’s expectations.
But just how many braved the rainy weather to urge the Australian government to do more to pressure Israel to stop the death and destruction in Gaza? That’s been a sticking point.
New South Wales police said initial estimates put the crowd at 90,000. A spokesperson for rally organisers, the Palestine Action Group, said police had informed them 100,000 people were in attendance – but the group estimated the figure was closer to 300,000.
What does an independent expert have to say?
Sydney wakes up to a shroud of fog
Some pictures of the fog that blanketed Sydney this morning:
Shadow attorney general says recognising Palestinian statehood would send ‘bad signal’
The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, said the recognition of a Palestinian state by Australia would reward Hamas and send a “bad signal around the world”. Leeser spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying while he wants to see a two-state solution, he believes the world is “further away from that today than at any point in the past”.
Lesser said:
I don’t want to see people suffering. I want to see the aid getting through and I want to see Hamas releasing the hostages because it’s only when the hostages are released and only when Hamas plays no further part in the future of the region that a stable and lasting peace in the Middle East can come about. …
I think [recognising a Palestinian state] will send a bad signal around the world to other terrorist organisations that if you increase your level of intransigence, if you maintain your position, then you will achieve your aims …
Let me be very clear, I want to see a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. It’s something I’ve believed in for decades. But we seem to be further away from that today than at any point in the past, and that is largely because of the role that Hamas is playing in Gaza.
