CANBERRA (Reuters) -Australia’s Queensland state government said on Friday it would run coal power plants at least into the 2040s, reversing a previous plan to pivot rapidly to renewables and in turn making national emissions reduction targets harder to achieve.
The centre-right Liberal National Party won last year’s election in Queensland, a huge chunk of land in Australia’s northeast where more than 60% of electricity comes from coal-fired plants that are mostly owned by the state.
“The former Labor government’s ideological decision to close coal units by 2035, regardless of their condition, is officially abolished,” said Queensland Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki, laying out a five-year energy plan.
“Queensland’s coal-fired fleet is the youngest in the country and state-owned coal generators will continue to operate for as long as they are needed in the system and supported by the market,” he said.
The announcement highlights the divide between Australia’s major political parties on climate policies.
Labor, which holds power in the federal parliament and most states and territories, advocates the rapid development of renewable energy.
The federal government committed last month to cutting national emissions by 62%-70% from 2005 levels by 2035. Queensland’s previous Labor government said 80% of the state’s power would be from renewables by then, and it would have “no regular reliance on coal”.
Many Liberal and National Party figures, however, oppose what they see as a too-rapid rollout of renewable energy that would blight the landscape and hobble the economy.
Janetzki said sticking with coal generation in Queensland – a major coal producer – would save consumers money.
His plan envisions running coal plants at least as long as they were designed to run, which in several cases is until around the 2040s. The plants’ lifespans could also be extended where needed, according to the plan.
The five-year roadmap also calls for construction of a new gas-fired plant in the state and commits A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) to maintain the state’s coal, gas and hydroelectric plants, and A$400 million to drive private investment in renewables, gas and energy storage.
“This is a sensible and pragmatic plan, built on economics and engineering, not ideology,” Janetzki said.
Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down in a “brazen” shooting while on an early evening walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an attempt on his life.
The 33-year-old was shot dead in a “targeted” attack in Riverstone, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest, on Wednesday evening, New South Wales Police said. He was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene, police said.
A short time after the shooting two cars were found on fire in different locations, a hallmark of recent organized crime hits that have rattled the city. Fire and rescue crews extinguished the blaze, police said.
“It’s very brazen and it’s a shame that this is happening in our community,” NSW Police superintendent Jason Joyce said.
“You’d want to think that in a residential area that people could wander the streets at that time of (early) night and be safe, but we do believe it’s a targeted attack,” he said.
Footage obtained by the national broadcaster ABC shows the moments after a gunman opened fire at Mokhtarian. Several shots could be heard as a small child was seen standing in a driveway yards from where Mokhtarian was killed, the ABC reported.
Local media reported that Mokhtarian had survived an attempt on his life last February, when a gunman fired on him outside a gym in Sydney’s west.
Suman Mokhtarian of Australia poses on the scale during the UFC fight night weigh-in at Sajik Arena on December 20, 2019 in Busan, South Korea.
Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
He fought twice in the UFC, in 2018 and 2019, losing both times, before moving into coaching, according to ESPN.
He helped develop some of Australia’s top mixed martial arts prospects, the website said.
A local who only identified himself by his first name, Ben, said he was walking with his wife when he heard a gunshot.
“It was around then when we heard a bang as well and a lot of smoke went up in the air… that would have been the car,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There was a large commotion, a lot of people were just shocked because they’ve never witnessed anything like this.”
“The shooting happened with children literally riding bikes around the park.”
Neighbor Natalie, who also did not provide her last name, said she was out the front of her home with her children when the incident took place.
“I called the police straight away,” she told the national broadcaster ABC.
Natalie said she ran over to see if Mokhtarian was alive, but “he clearly wasn’t”.
“I could immediately tell he wasn’t alive, otherwise I would’ve tried to help him,” she said.
The killing came a day after police foiled a “kill team” bearing firearms, balaclavas, body-worn cameras and jerrycans on the way to a daycare center.
Police are investigating if the two incidents are linked.
A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
Deloitte’s member firm in Australia will pay the government a partial refund for a $290,000 report that contained alleged AI-generated errors, including references to non-existent academic research papers and a fabricated quote from a federal court judgment.
The report was originally published on the Australian government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website in July. A revised version was quietly published on Friday after Sydney University researcher of health and welfare law Chris Rudge said he alerted media outlets that the report was “full of fabricated references.”
Deloitte reviewed the 237-page report and “confirmed some footnotes and references were incorrect,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.
Deloitte did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The revised version of the report includes a disclosure that a generative AI language system, Azure OpenAI, was used in its creation. It also removes the fabricated quotes attributed to a federal court judge and references to nonexistent reports attributed to law and software engineering experts. Deloitte noted in a “Report Update” section that the updated version, dated September 26, replaced the report published in July.
“The updates made in no way impact or affect the substantive content, findings and recommendations in the report,” Deloitte wrote.
In late August the Australian Financial Review first reported that the document contained multiple errors, citing Rudge as the researcher who identified the apparent AI-generated inaccuracies.
Rudge discovered the report’s mistakes when he read a portion incorrectly stating Lisa Burton Crawford, a Sydney University professor of public and constitutional law, had authored a non-existent book with a title outside her field of expertise.
“I instantaneously knew it was either hallucinated by AI or the world’s best kept secret because I’d never heard of the book and it sounded preposterous,” Rudge toldThe Associated Press on Tuesday.
The Big Four consulting firms and global management firms such as McKinsey have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into AI initiatives to develop proprietary models and increase efficiency. In September, Deloitte said it would invest $3 billion in generative AI development through fiscal year 2030.
Anthropic also announced a Deloitte partnership on Monday that includes making Claude available to more than 470,000 Deloitte professionals.
In June, the UK Financial Reporting Council, an accountancy regulator, warned that the Big Four firms were failing to monitor how AI and automated technologies affected the quality of their audits.
Though the firm will refund its last payment installment to the Australian government, Senator Barbara Pocock, the Australian Greens party’s spokesperson on the public sector, said Deloitte should refund the entire $290,000.
Deloitte “misused AI and used it very inappropriately: misquoted a judge, used references that are non-existent,” Pocock told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “I mean, the kinds of things that a first-year university student would be in deep trouble for.”“The matter has been resolved directly with the client,” a spokesperson from Deloitte Australia told TheAssociated Press.
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Former Financial Advisor with Freedom Finance based in Melbourne, Anthony Del Vecchio has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for betting with clients’ money.
The Mazza family, clients of Del Vecchio, has lost a quarter of a million due to his gambling.
Originally, they had been led to believe their money was being invested in high-interest term deposits; however, around Christmas, they discovered that the money was gone.
It was discovered that Del Vecchio had been using money from over 30 clients to gamble.
Several betting companies had been using tactics aimed at Del Vecchio to keep him gambling longer.
Across 52 online bookmakers, the money of Del Vecchio lost by gambling was close to $4.5 million.
Greed Unrestricted
A list showing the amount Del Vecchio had lost with each bookmaker was presented by a forensic accountant.
Judge Cannon commented on how the report showed the ease with which the money had been gambled with:
“[The report] demonstrates the extraordinary sums of money you gambled, money which was not yours for the most part, and also reveals the various betting agencies who were apparently happy to take that money without any qualm or enquiry”
The list showed that over $1 million of the money had gone into MintBet.
Their director and compliance officer, Casey McCutcheon, refused to answer when asked whether due diligence had been done on the origin of the money that Del Vecchio used to gamble.
The Law Doesn’t Protect
Three times has Independent MP Andrew Wilkie tried to pass legislation, forcing agencies to return stolen money, and each time it has been rejected by the federal parliament.
MP Wilkie had this to say about it:
“The fact that at the federal level, three times the government and the opposition have failed to act, proves to me that they continue to run a protection racket for the gambling industry”
So Called “VIP” Clients
Judge Canon has pointed out that several VIP managers from the betting companies had been giving Del Vecchio additional incentives for him to gamble any money he happened to win.
Notifications would be sent out if a client considered VIP hadn’t gambled or deposited money.
Those who have been labeled as “VIP” happen to be normal people who happen to lose larger sums and are considered crucial when it comes to maintaining these agencies.
Four Corners has reported that, according to insiders who used to work in the industry, VIP managers are often instructed to use incentives to entice target customers.
We set out across the Indo-Pacific in August to assess U.S. military readiness and consult with allies. In the Philippines, Palau and Taiwan, we found partners determined to resist Chinese coercion and willing to share the burden.
In Taiwan we spoke with President Lai Ching-tse and senior officials. They understand the gravity of the threat and are responding with urgency to meet it. Mr. Lai has committed to increasing defense spending and mobilizing the public behind a resilience plan.
Melbourne, Australia — Australian prosecutors on Monday filed an appeal seeking a longer guaranteed prison term for Erin Patterson, who was sentenced to life for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms but will be eligible for parole after 33 years.
Victoria state’s Office of Public Prosecutions said in a statement that it had filed the appeal to the Victorian Court of Appeal, claiming the sentence handed to Patterson a month ago was “manifestly inadequate.”
Patterson was sentenced to life in prison in September by the Victorian Supreme Court for the murder of three people and the attempted murder a fourth, all of whom were lunch guests at her home in 2023.
Patterson fed them beef Wellington pastry dishes laced with toxic mushrooms. Her motive remains a mystery.
Convicted murderer Erin Patterson (L) leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, Sept. 8, 2025.
WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty
Prosecutors argued last month that she should never be eligible for parole. Her lawyers had asked for Patterson to serve 30 years before she could be considered for early release.
Justice Christopher Beale set a non-parole period of 33 years, meaning she could potentially be set free in 2056 at the age of 82.
“Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” Beale said when he delivered the original sentence. “Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.”
It was never disputed that Patterson served the mushrooms or that the pastries killed her guests. The jury was required to decide whether she knew the lunch contained death caps, and if she intended for them to die.
Patterson’s lawyer Richard Edney told Beale last week that she would lodge an appeal against her jury convictions within a month.
Three Court of Appeal judges will hear both appeals on a date that is yet to be set.
Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, the parents of her husband Simon Patterson. She also murdered Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and attempted to murder Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital, the court ruled.
Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch but declined.
A 60-year-old man was arrested Monday in Australia after police said he fired up to 100 bullets at passersby, injuring 20 people in the country’s most populous city.
New South Wales police said they were called on Sunday evening to a street in Sydney’s Inner West, where the alleged gunman was firing at random cars and police. One man with a gunshot wound transported himself to the hospital following the incident, police said. He is in a “serious” condition.
Another 19 people were treated for shrapnel or shattered glass injuries, with several taken to the hospital, authorities said.
Acting New South Wales Police Superintendent Stephen Parry said “anywhere between 50 and 100 shots” were fired between 7:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time on Sunday night in Croydon Park, a suburb of Inner West.
A large contingent of police swarmed the area and locked down the street before entering a unit above a business and arresting a 60-year-old man. They seized two rifles from the scene.
The accused shooter was also taken to the hospital and treated for wounds sustained during his arrest, police said. No charges have been filed against the alleged gunman yet.
Joe Azar, who was working across the road, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that he heard what he thought were fireworks or rocks being thrown at windows.
“Some guy’s windshield blew up, then the bus stop glass shattered,” he told the newspaper. “The surreal feeling kicked in like, ‘Oh, this is what’s happening.’”
“It was frantic. It all happened so quick, so I couldn’t comprehend what was going on,” he added.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described the shooting as “serious and terrifying.” The gunman’s motive was unclear but there were “no known links to terrorism activity or any gang activity,” he told local radio station 2GB. A police investigation is ongoing.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Australia.
A ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons has been in place since 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
In August, alleged gunman Dezi Freeman went on the run in the bush after being accused of killing two police officers. He remains at large.
And in 2022, six people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting near the small Queensland town of Wieambilla.
Australia has won its second medal at the ICF Slalom World Championships at Penrith’s Whitewater Stadium, with Kate Eckhardt claiming bronze in the women’s K1 final.
Eckhardt, who started third in the 12-paddler final, avoided time penalties to lead the overall standings with 103.84 seconds for much of the medal round on Thursday afternoon.
She shifted back to the silver-medal position when Poland’s Klaudia Zwolińska (100.32) completed her run, before Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods (102.09) moved into second place.
Eckhardt had to endure an anxious wait when Camille Prigent went down as the final paddler, but the Frenchwoman eventually finished in sixth place.
“I was proud of the run that I did, so I was really, really happy with how I performed and I put it all out there,” Eckhardt told the Nine Network.
“So, I just had to wait and see. There were so many fast girls out there.
“I was very, very nervous looking at who was to come.”
Eckhardt’s teammate Noémie Fox (114.40) finished 12th in the final.
Australia’s Kaylen Bassett has collected the bronze medal in the men’s C1 event at the ICF Slalom World Championships at Penrith’s Whitewater Stadium.
But star paddler Noémie Fox was in tears after a ninth-placed finish in the women’s C1 final on Thursday afternoon.
French heavyweight Nicolas Gestin clocked 97.13 seconds to claim the men’s C1 gold, followed by Great Britain’s Ryan Westley (98.03).
Competing in windy conditions, Bassett trailed Gestin by 1.61 seconds to be third out of the final 12 competitors.
The 28-year-old was the fifth paddler to set a time and endured a nervous wait to find out if he had finished on the podium.
It is Australia’s first medal of the world titles.
“The conditions were pretty rough today and outside of rain, there’s not much else you really want to be happening on the water with the wind,” Bassett said.
“But [on] the home course, I just felt comfortable. I was at home on the water to feel like I could just paddle my run.”
Competing in front of family and friends, Bassett said he was “lost for words”.
He felt vindicated after making the decision to move interstate from Melbourne to Penrith to further his career.
“The medal today is awesome, but to have even just been racing here at home in the final, that was validation for the move enough,” said Bassett, who came to the sport in his late teens.
“[You] Make a lot of sacrifices, things people don’t see, things people do see and that medal is just the cherry on top of it all. “
Having competed internationally since 2021, Bassett’s bronze medal is his best finish at a world championship.
Fox out of the medals
Fox managed a clean run in the women’s final but finished adrift of the medals.
Poland’s Klaudia Zwolińska won gold ahead of Russian Alsu Minazova (silver) and Brazil’s Ana Sátila (bronze).
Noémie Fox was more than eight seconds off the pace in the women’s C1 final. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)
Fox, who claimed the gold medal in the kayak cross event at last year’s Paris Olympics, said it was an “amazing” experience to be competing in a world championship final in front of a home crowd.
But despite avoiding time penalties, the Penrith local said she did not deliver a polished performance in the final, finishing more than eight seconds behind Zwolińska.
“It’s incredibly frustrating because I was feeling great,” Fox said.
“It’s a missed opportunity, but that’s the sport as well. And the wind was very hard to manage, for sure.”
Fox’s campaign will continue when she contests the kayak and kayak cross events on Friday and Saturday respectively.
“[I’m] Excited that’s two other opportunities I get,” Fox said.
SYDNEY (Reuters) -The Papua New Guinea cabinet has approved a defence treaty with Australia, Prime Minister James Marape said on Thursday, as Canberra seeks to block China from expanding its security presence in the Pacific.
Under the Pukpuk defence treaty, Australia and Papua are obliged to come to each other’s aid if attacked.
“Australia has only one other mutual defence treaty of this type and at our request Papua New Guinea will now sign this treaty,” Marape said in a statement.
“This reflects the depth of trust, history, and shared future between our two nations.”
The treaty would also allow as many as 10,000 Papua New Guineans to serve with the Australian Defence Force, under dual arrangements, the statement said.
The landmark treaty still requires ratification from both nations’ parliaments.
The agreement was supposed to have been approved when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Port Moresby during celebrations of PNG’s 50th independence anniversary two weeks ago.
The two countries agreed a joint communique on the text of the pact, after a meeting of PNG’s cabinet lacked the quorum required to ratify it.
Albanese also travelled to Vanuatu last month but failed to secure a A$500 million ($330.70 million) security partnership because a coalition partner in the Vanuatu government called for further scrutiny.
Australia has sought to use the security deals to block Chinese influence in the region, after China struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
The United States struck a defence pact with PNG in 2023 to counter China’s security ambitions.
The Pukpuk treaty also recognises that both PNG and Australia can maintain defence relationships with other nations, Marape said. “Provisions are in place to respect third-party relationships,” he said.
($1 = 1.5119 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Praveen Menon and Kate Mayberry)
In just two weeks, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden lands in bookstores! We are so appreciative of all the interest the book has already generated. As a thank-you, our publisher is offering a 20-percent discount when you pre-order our book from their site (use code: GARDENISTA20) before October 14.
And if you need further enticement, here’s another sneak peek from the book: a tour of an inspired residential garden in Australia that takes its cues from the coastal national park right next door.
Fiona Brockhoff grew to love the Mornington Peninsula’s wild ocean landscape as a child on vacation. When the renowned landscape designer built her family home here, the style was a nod to 1950s beach shacks—powered by solar panels and rainwater. Her garden is rooted in ecological resilience.
Fiona’s love of native plants stems from long acquaintance, aided by her love of bush walking (or hiking) and camping. The house, named Karkalla after an indigenous coastal plant, and which she shares with her partner and extended family, sits on a strip of land that has the ocean on one side and Port Phillip Bay on the other. “It’s quite a harsh environment—it’s very windy and the soil is sandy,” explains Fiona. “The decisions we made were not just about the layout of the garden and the hard landscape elements. A lot of the plants that I chose were those I’d seen when I’d been walking in the Mornington Peninsula National Park, adjacent to our property.”
The provenance of materials is as local as the plants: “The gravel comes from a nearby quarry, and a lot of the timbers are from a jetty that was renovated when we were building the garden.” Walls of regional limestone anchor the house and garden and are the continuing work of stonemason David Swann, Fiona’s partner, whom she met on the build.
Fiona focuses on “appropriate planting” rather than lecturing people on the rights and wrongs of natives versus non-natives. When a client asks for bamboo and miniature maples to go in a Japanese-style garden, she asks them to go back a step and think about what it is about a Japanese garden that attracts them. Is it the simplicity and the restricted number of plants and elements in that kind of garden? If so, she suggests creating that feeling using local, indigenous plants.
City people on the Mornington Peninsula can bring with them a Melbourne mentality, thinking that constant vigilance is required in watering and general fussing over plants. Fiona tells clients that unless they are growing vegetables, this is not necessary. “It’s more about allowing those plants to be themselves. They don’t require a lot of maintenance because they’re mainly indigenous, or they’re a good ecological fit. Yes, there’s some pruning, and the gravel needs a bit of raking, but on the whole, it’s about working with nature.”
Above: Sea box (Alyxia buxifolia, foreground) is found in native coastal scrub, but Fiona shapes it like ordinary boxwood. Behind the table is a clipped Melaleuca lanceolata, which in the wild would grow into a large tree. Says Fiona: “We’ve pruned boxwood, roses, and lavender. Why weren’t we pruning Australian plants?” The main barrier is perception, she suggests. “People say to me, ‘Is that really a native garden? But—it’s so beautiful.’”
It’s easy to forget just how young Phoebe Litchfield still is.
Having only turned 22 in April this year, the punchy, breathtakingly talented top order batter has been the future of Australian cricket since before the Covid pandemic.
In mid-2019, prior to even making her state debut, the then 16-year-old Litchfield was a sensation in Australian cricketing circles after footage of her batting in the NSW nets went viral on social media.
Six months later, she played a match winning knock for the Governor General’s XI against India, and only days after that, was lining up alongside Ricky Ponting, Alex Blackwell and Brian Lara for the Bushfire Cricket Bash.
The hype surrounding Litchfield was reaching the kind of fever pitch reserved for only the most exciting of cricketing prodigies.
However, a pandemic interrupted two years plus the continued dominance of a stacked Australian batting line-up meant Litchfield had to wait until late 2022 for her international debut.
Since then, her still obviously generational talent has threatened and simmered, but it has also sputtered at times, with glorious centuries against India and Ireland being tempered by quiet Ashes and T20 World Cup campaigns.
Litchfield is yet to fully announce herself on the international stage. (Getty Images: Pankaj Nangia)
Now, on the eve of her first ODI World Cup, Litchfield finds herself flirting with career-best form, having just topped the run-scoring charts in England’s showpiece domestic short-form tournament, the Hundred.
With the baby-faced, pre-pandemic Litchfield now confined to the realms of sporting prodigies past, and with many of her world beating batting teammates well into the twilight of their careers, Australia’s cricketing future has never been better placed to become its present.
Australia chasing history after an up and down 12 months
There are few feats that have eluded the modern Australian women’s cricket team, but winning consecutive ODI World Cups is one of them. Not since 1988 has a nation gone back-to-back in the tournament, with the green and gold claiming every second instalment since then.
That’s a hoodoo that the 2022 winner will be looking to shake in the tournament to be played in India and Sri Lanka over the next month.
Australia defeated England in the final of the 2022 ODI World Cup. (Getty: Hannah Peters)
Australia will begin its campaign as favourite, but perhaps without quite the same aura of invincibility it brought to the tournament three years ago, after a meek exit in last year’s T20 World Cup.
Despite winning all four of their group matches, it was a tournament to forget for many of the Australians, including Litchfield. Batting in the middle order and starved of significant strike, she was only able to manage a top score of 18 from five knocks.
For this modern Australian team, the semifinal loss to South Africa was an unacceptable failure, but one that was avenged in the most comprehensive of fashions with an Ashes whitewash at the start of this year.
Against an England side that wilted horribly, all-rounder Ash Gardner and leg-spinner Alana King both had coming of age series for Australia, while Annabel Sutherland continued to shine as Ellyse Perry’s heir apparent.
Australia completed the first ever multi-format Women’s Ashes whitewash earlier this year. (Getty Images via Speed Media/Icon Sportswire: Santanu Banik)
However, Litchfield was once again underwhelming. She failed to reach 50 in seven attempts in the multi format series, with her highest white ball score being a stodgy and at times excruciating 50 ball 29 in the second ODI.
In a series so lopsided, that lean run was of little consequence. But in the upcoming World Cup, which has been touted to be the “the strongest ever” by captain Alyssa Healy, Australia may well require more from Litchfield.
Litchfield finds her best form in enemy territory
So, Litchfield’s excellent recently completed English summer serves as a timely reminder of the player she still promises to become.
Not only was she the Hundred’s player of the tournament and highest scorer, but she compiled her 292 runs at a strike-rate of 157.83 — the third best of any batter in the tournament.
However, translating form across formats and oceans is never a sure thing.
The spin friendly decks of India and Sri Lanka will provide an entirely different challenge to the one she rose to in England, while the 50 over game is worlds away from the Frankenstein’s monster of a format she played there.
ODI cricket has a unique, increasingly archaic rhythm, and Litchfield has at times struggled to play her shots to it, oscillating between awkwardly repressing her attacking instincts and living by them too fiercely.
But her form in Australia’s World Cup warm-up matches has been promising.
She hit 88 against India and then 71 against England, with both knocks hinting at a more balanced and composed Litchfield.
Litchfield was brilliant against India in September. (Getty Images: Ravi Kumar/Hindustan Times)
She scored at more than a run a ball in both games and, against England, did so while most of her teammates tried and failed to keep pace.
Speaking after the match against India, Litchfield said she was very aware of the importance of acclimatising to the 50 over format.
“My brain was probably going a bit quicker than it needed to,” Litchfield said.
“50 over cricket is a long game…so I’ve just got to find the balance.”
This World Cup is a transitional tournament for Australia.
White the current team has already successfully evolved from the wildly successful side of the 2010s and early 2020s, its spine and identity remains tied to it.
All time greats Healy and Perry, now 35 and 34 respectively, are both unlikely to feature at another ODI World Cup.
Having played international cricket since the early 2010s, they are some of the final vestiges of the Australian team of 10 years ago, and do not only offer the current side runs and quality, but mythos and aura as well.
Australia’s generation next has all the ability to build a similar legacy — Sutherland and Gardner are already world beaters, while the likes of King and Georgia Voll are clearly special talents.
But it is the true international arrival of Litchfield that would, above all else, signal that the future of Australian cricket has really arrived.
ABC Sport will broadcast live radio coverage of every match of the ICC ODI Women’s World Cup. Australia starts its campaign tonight against New Zealand at 7:30pm (AEST).
(Reuters) -The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and related equipment to Australia for $705 million, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, with the U.S. president pushing a Gaza peace proposal after a slew of Western leaders embraced Palestinian statehood in defiance of American and Israeli opposition.
In Netanyahu’s fourth visit since Trump returned to office in January, the right-wing Israeli leader will be looking to shore up his country’s most important relationship as it faces growing international isolation nearly two years into its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
He can expect a warm welcome compared to the chilly reception he received when he spoke on Friday before the U.N. General Assembly where many delegates walked out in protest.
Netanyahu went on to deliver a blistering attack on what he called a “disgraceful decision” over the past week by Britain, France, Canada, Australia and several other countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, a major diplomatic shift by top U.S. allies.
They said such action was needed to preserve the prospect for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and help bring the war to a close.
Trump, who had criticized the recognition moves as a prize to Hamas, told Reuters on Sunday he hopes to get Netanyahu’s agreement on a framework to end the war in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
“We’re getting a very good response because Bibi wants to make the deal too,” Trump said in a telephone interview, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Everybody wants to make the deal.”
He credited leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Jordan and Egypt for their assistance and said the deal aims to go beyond Gaza to a broader Middle East peace.
“It’s called peace in the Middle East, more than Gaza. Gaza is a part of it. But it’s peace in the Middle East,” he said.
Asked whether there is now an agreed deal for peace in Gaza, a senior Israeli official said “it’s too early to tell.” The official added that Netanyahu would give Israel’s response to the proposal when he meets Trump on Monday.
Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from the hostages’ families and, according to public opinion polls, a war-weary Israeli public.
A 21-point peace plan had been circulated to a string of Arab and Muslim countries on the U.N. sidelines last week.
It calls for the release of all hostages, living and dead, no further Israeli attacks on Qatar and a new dialogue between Israel and Palestinians for “peaceful coexistence,” a White House official said on condition of anonymity. Israel angered the Qataris and drew criticism from Trump for an airstrike against Hamas leaders in Doha on September 9.
Previous U.S.-backed ceasefire efforts have fallen apart due to a failure to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas and Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is completely dismantled.
GAZA WAR TAKES CENTER-STAGE
The White House meeting follows an annual gathering of world leaders in New York in which the Gaza war took center-stage and Israel was often the target. Netanyahu responded that the world leaders recognizing Palestinian independence were sending the message that “murdering Jews pays off.”
The most far-right government in Israeli history has ruled out acceptance of a Palestinian state as it presses on with its fight against Hamas following the militants’ October 7, 2023, rampage in Israel. Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military response has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, according to local health officials, leaving much of the territory in ruins, a humanitarian crisis deepening and hunger spreading.
The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes.
While Trump and Netanyahu have mostly been in sync and the U.S. continues to be Israel’s main arms supplier, Monday’s discussions have the potential for tensions to surface.
Some of Netanyahu’s hardline ministers have said the government should respond to growing recognition of Palestinian statehood by formally extending Israeli sovereignty over all or parts of the occupied West Bank to snuff out hopes for Palestinian independence.
On Thursday, however, Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, which the Palestinians want for their state, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Analysts say Israeli annexation of the West Bank could unravel the landmark Abraham Accords, a signature foreign policy achievement brokered by Trump’s first administration in which several Arab countries forged diplomatic ties with Israel.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland, writing by Matt Spetalnick, Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Diane Craft)
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Share markets got off to a cautious start in Asia on Monday as investors braced for a possible shutdown of the U.S. government, which would in turn delay publication of the September payrolls report and a raft of other key data.
President Donald Trump will meet with the top Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress later on Monday to discuss extending government funding. Without a deal a shutdown would begin from Wednesday, which is also when new U.S. tariffs on heavy trucks, pharmaceuticals and other items go into effect.
A protracted closure could leave the Federal Reserve flying blind on the economy when it meets on October 29.
“If the shutdown lasts beyond the Fed meeting, the Fed will rely on private data for its policy decisions,” analysts at BofA wrote in a note. “On the margin, we think this may lower the likelihood of an October cut, but only marginally.”
Markets imply a 90% chance of a Fed cut in October, with around a 65% probability of another in December.
The BofA analysts estimated a shutdown would subtract only a slight 0.1% percentage point from economic growth for every week it lasted, while noting the impact on financial markets had been minimal in the past.
They cautioned that should the government use the closure to lay off workers permanently, then it could have a more meaningful impact on payrolls and consumer confidence.
There is also much uncertainty about what might happen at a meeting of U.S. generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday, called by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth which Trump will reportedly attend.
Q4 USUALLY GOOD FOR STOCKS
Otherwise, analysts expected equities to be supported by buying for the new quarter which historically tends to be a positive one for stocks. The S&P 500 has gained 74% of the time in the fourth quarters.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both up 0.2%, having eased modestly last week.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.3%, as did FTSE futures and DAX futures.
Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.7%, having risen 6% for September so far, while South Korea bounced 1.2%, bringing its gains for the month to 6.3%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.4%, to be up almost 4% for the month.
In bond markets, Treasuries found support at 4.17% having been pressured last week by a run of upbeat U.S. economic data, that led investors to pare back expectations for how low Fed rates might ultimately go.
A host of central bank speakers are on the diary this week, with at least four from the Fed and the European Central Bank appearing on Monday alone.
The dollar index was steady at 98.134 having benefited from the batch of better economic news last week. The euro held at $1.1708, in the lower half of its recent $1.1646 to $1.1918 range.
The dollar stood at 149.49 yen, after rallying just over 1% last week and away from the September low around 145.50.
In commodity markets, gold was holding just below a record high at $3,764 an ounce. [GOL/]
Oil prices slipped as crude started to flow through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years. [O/R]
Reuters reported OPEC+ will likely approve another oil production increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day at its meeting next Sunday.
Brent dropped 0.8% to $69.57 a barrel, while U.S. crude eased 0.9% to $65.14 per barrel.
What is it all for, these early mornings and evenings in the park with her notebook? The bruises and the pain? She wonders about it many times, but is quiet, self-conscious. She does not spend too much time trying to answer the question. And whatever answers she comes by are less interesting, anyway, than the quality of the light at dawn, and the crash of bodies, and what she’s recording in the notebook.
The boys don’t wonder—not about her, whom they do not see, or about injuries, which happen all the time. She envies them for their obliviousness. She worships—not too strong a word—their hardening, growing bodies, their virility, their youth. They play footy, Australian-rules football, as if it is their birthright, and, in her view, it is.
She is Helen Garner, one of Australia’s best-known writers, renowned for her unsparing novels and journalism, and for her complex view of intimacy and power relations. Garner hasn’t written a stand-alone book in a decade. She hesitates to tell people she is writing one about watching her grandson playing for the U-16 Flemington Colts. “I keep quiet about this,” she writes in “The Season: A Fan’s Story,” “ because I don’t want people to think I’m romanticising it, or to reproach me for not writing about women’s footy.” But she is romanticizing it, and she is certainly not writing about women’s footy. Later in the book, she notes, “I’m surprised how many people jump to the conclusion that it’s something polemical, a critical study of football culture and its place in society, informative, analytical, statistical.” It is, in fact, specifically uncritical—admiring, even awestruck. What she wants to create, instead, is “a little life-hymn. A poem. A record of a season we are spending together before he turns into a man and I die.”
To do this, “I’m going to have to find a way to efface myself, to become a silent witness,” she writes. Because it is a man’s world, a young man’s world at that, and she is neither a man nor a young person. She is not interested in condemning men and their regimes, not now, at the end of her life. The opposite: before she dies, she wants to feel close to her grandson. She wants to take this chance “to learn about boys and men from a fresh angle, to see their delicacy, their fragility, what they’re obliged to do to themselves in order to live in this world, the codes of behaviour they’ve had to develop in order to discipline and sublimate their drive to violence.” So she watches them shove one another, and embrace one another, and yell. She notes their haircuts, the shape of their shoulders, and records their insults, grievances, their hopes and dreams. She says she does not know much about the nuances of the sport, which is hard to believe; she has been fervently following the local team for more than twenty years. But it is easy to forgive her, at least for a reader from the United States, who is unlikely to know even the basic rules. And it might as well be about American football, or hockey, or basketball, or any other activity in which people collide into one another and call it sport. What is a “torp”? Who cares. What matters is the “crazed, cracked-voiced yelling” when the kick soars enormously into the air: “And ’e’s gorn the TOOOOOORP!”
The rich language around the game makes her feel alive. Her grandson, Amby, makes her feel alive. He is shining with life, and so are his teammates. She basks in their glow. She offers them orange slices like a supplicant: “It’s an honour and a joy to serve them.” At times—at many times, to be honest—it’s all a little too much. An honor? Reading the book, I felt as skeptical as the old lefty atheist who snorts when Garner calls a stadium a “shrine.” But she is sincere, and she has the weight of so much history, and so many cultural legacies, behind her. She may or may not know footy, but she knows Milton and Homer. She sees her grandson and his teammates in epic terms, and writes about them with a bard’s sonorous cadence. “Here again tonight, hanging over the rail, I see the softness in the faces of these boys, the slenderness, still, of their bodies. How lightly they leap towards the approaching ball, present their chests and bellies to it front-on!”
How would this go over if she weren’t a nana? Not very well, I suspect, and maybe not very well anyway. Garner’s an avowed feminist, but her investigations into the ways that people—which is to say, usually, but not exclusively, men—use sex and gender to arrange power relations have, at times, been sympathetic to men, and have not always absolved women of the roles they play. (Her book about a 1991 sexual-assault scandal at a university, “The First Stone,” is subtitled “Some Questions About Sex and Power.”) Even here, women don’t always come out very well, if they’re there at all. She tells Amby the story of Achilles, whose “cold, angry mother” refused to let the name of the exiled Patroclus be written on Achilles’ tombstone. There’s a “woman in black” who mysteriously ignites a brawl. “Girls,” Amby says at one point, “the bane of my existence.” At one point, he tells his nana that he called someone on the field “a cunt” in a match. “Was he offended?” Garner asks. “I don’t think so,” Amby replies. Was she offended? She never says.
In Mark Ronson’s memoir, Night People, the quote he uses for the introduction of the book is as follows: “The night is on your mind/Ayo, the sun’ll still shine/But now the night is on the mind.” Taken from A Tribe Called Quest’s 1993 track, “Midnight,” it’s a verse that also very much applies to Tame Impala’s latest single from Deadbeat (following “End of Summer” and “Loser”), “Dracula.” The evocative title of course referring to being a creature of the night (for vampires, as everyone knows, despise the day—after all, it literally kills them). And obviously one that abhors daylight. Or, at the very least, doesn’t get along half as well with it.
To convey that motif in the accompanying video for “Dracula,” directed by Julian Klincewicz, Tame Impala (a.k.a. Kevin Parker) sets the stage at a house party in the middle of nowhere (a setting he’s quite familiar with considering he grew up, for a time, in Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie). Except, rather than partying inside the house like semi-“civilized” people, these ghoulish creatures move about in an almost zombie-like (rather than vampire-like) fashion outside the abandoned/spooky-looking abode (given the added “deadbeat” touch of being outfitted with a string of colored Christmas lights on the exterior).
Before the viewer is given a chance to fully take in the non-splendor of the house, however, Tame Impala, in the opening scene, emerges as though out of thin air, cutting through the night like the very vampire the song is named after. This done as a trippy, almost incantation-like series of “oh-oh-oh-ohs” are let out before the expectedly infectious beat drops. A beat, as Tame Impala, described to Zane Lowe, that heavily evolved in that it “started in this really raw, minimal way and then just sort of like slowly expanded into this sort of like pop, you know…” Parker further added, as though to emphasize he’s but a vessel for “the muse,” “I just give the song what it wants. I feel like that one just…wanted to be like a Max Martin song.” And yes, it’s probably the most “Max Martin-y” that Tame Impala will ever get.
In any case, as he continues to walk through the deserted landscape, all at once, a semi-truck appears behind Tame Impala to follow him into the enclosure, as it were, and soon he’s strutting into the area like a rooster (especially with his “groovy” neck moves while walking). With the dominant pheromones to back up that comparison. The opening verse then heightens the establishment of the feeling that these are night people, with Tame Impala singing, “The morning light is turning blue, the feeling is bizarre/The night is almost over, I still don’t know where you are/The shadows, yeah, they keep me pretty like a movie star/Daylight makes me feel like Dracula.”
In other words, nighttime is the right time, particularly for continuing to fool people into thinking you’re attractive (further assisted by the intake of drugs and alcohol). Even though Dua Lipa’s “Illusion” (which Parker co-produced with Danny L Harle) rightly brings up the fact that most girls are well-aware they’re dancing with a, let’s say, false presentation at this time of night, as manifest in her lyrics, “I really like the way you’re movin’/Yeah, I just wanna dance with the illusion.” And daylight is the one major thing that can really shatter the illusion—break the spell. Or trance, if you will.
As he serves some very Kesha “the party don’t start till I walk in” vibes, the scene switches to black and white before being suffused with color again, with Klincewicz homing in on a pregnant woman as one of the many random-ass people who happen to be at this gathering. An image that solidifies the notion that not only does the nighttime always seem to bring an “eclectic mix” of people together, but also that once you are a night person, you never really let that go…no matter what your circumstances in life are. Married, pregnant, “old”—it don’t matter. Your commitment remains forever to the night.
With the video continuing to alternate between shots in color and black and white, Klincewicz lends an added sense that there is a line between “two worlds”—day and night—being tenuously toed. As for the desolate landscape, Parker cited Western Australia’s rave scene as one of the track’s inspirations (because, again, if anyone knows about that Western Australia life, it’s Parker). And this very much comes across in the isolated, remote tableau provided by the video. Along with the cult-like “circle dances” occasionally shown via overhead shots that convey a message about how “The Night” really is a religion for some people (see also: Charli XCX—side note: frequent Charli collaborator Imogene Strauss acted as the creative director for this video).
Throughout the strangeness-radiating “party,” Tame Impala appears to be in search of something—or someone—he has yet to find. An image that speaks to the romantic aspect of the song, which is that he’s looking for “his person,” his fellow creature of the night to depart with. Ergo, the lyrics, “In the end, I hope it’s you and me/In the darkness, I would never leave you.” That “in the end” part referring to the moment when the night really is over and you’re theoretically supposed to go “home” (or whatever ramshackle you’re currently squatting in) with someone. Unless, of course, you really are a vampire and truly only can be with someone else in the darkness (thus, Tame Impala warning, “Won’t ever see me in the light of day/It’s far too late, the time has come”—for him to enter his proverbial coffin bed).
As the sun starts to come up at this rave-y party, Tame Impala acts as the “cult leader” figure, leading them all away from this place (a pied piper of keeping the good times [literally] rolling) with the house rigged up on the back of the semi-truck like it’s no big deal. Clearly, they’re migrating elsewhere, maybe to a place where it’s still night (after all, “portal jumping” seems totally plausible within this video’s universe).
While the stumbling/dancing rag-tag crew follows behind Tame Impala and his truck, the lines, “Run from the sun like Dracula” repeat. And it’s an urging that could just as well possess the subtext, “Run from responsibility at all costs.” Stay a creature of the night—someone who can never be swayed or controlled by the “laws” of the day. A message that feels especially valid on an album called Deadbeat.
Australia plans to hit digital asset platforms with penalties of up to 10% of annual turnover if they breach new rules, under draft legislation released on Thursday.
The proposal requires exchanges and other operators to secure an Australian Financial Services Licence. Firms that fail to act honestly and fairly, or that engage in misleading conduct and unfair contract terms, would face the greater of three penalties, A$16.5m (US$10.9m), three times the benefit gained, or 10% of annual turnover.
These rules build on existing anti-money laundering obligations overseen by AUSTRAC and complement the Australian Taxation Office’s scrutiny of crypto transactions for capital gains tax.
The ATO can already impose fines worth up to three times the amount evaded or pursue prison terms in cases of serious breaches.
The draft law will remain open for consultation until Oct. 24. It marks one of the most significant moves yet to regulate an industry that includes major global players such as Coinbase and Kraken.
Australia’s regulators have repeatedly warned about the risks of surging retail crypto investment. The nation’s securities and prudential watchdogs, as well as the central bank, have pressed for tougher standards. In August, financial crimes agency AUSTRAC ordered Binance’s local arm to appoint an external auditor over money laundering and terrorism financing concerns.
Treasury said the new regime will bring digital asset and tokenized custody platforms under the Corporations Act, extending consumer protections and formal licensing requirements.
Smaller players will not face the full burden. Platforms that hold less than A$5,000 per customer and process under A$10m in annual transactions will be exempt.
The effort reflects a balancing act, with policymakers seeking to protect investors without stifling innovation. Industry feedback over the next month will shape the final framework before it moves toward parliament.
Separately, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission last week granted class relief to intermediaries distributing stablecoins issued by licensed AFS providers. The measure, which runs until June 2028, exempts them from separate market, clearing and settlement licences when handling stablecoins from approved issuers.
The relief is the first of its kind in Australia, signalling regulators’ willingness to provide flexibility where oversight is already embedded in existing financial licences.
Australia has released draft legislation to regulate digital asset platforms, proposing a framework that extends financial services laws to crypto businesses in an effort to bolster consumer protections and provide clarity for the industry.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced the reforms on Wednesday at the Digital Economy Council of Australia’s Global Digital Asset Regulatory Summit.
He described the bill as the “cornerstone” of the government’s digital asset roadmap, published in March, and said it would align Australia with international peers.
“This is about legitimizing the good actors and shutting out the bad,” Mulino said. “It is about giving businesses certainty and consumers confidence.”
The draft introduces two new categories under the Corporations Act: digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms.
Operators would need an Australian financial services license and be required to manage conflicts of interest, provide dispute resolution systems, and meet minimum custody and settlement standards.
Mulino said recent failures in the sector had exposed gaps in consumer safeguards, particularly when operators pooled and held client assets.
“We are addressing this by extending well-understood and time-tested Australian financial services frameworks to target the riskiest parts of these businesses,” he said.
The bill also sets out rules for wrapped tokens, public token infrastructure, and staking—areas Mulino said had struggled to fit within frameworks built for traditional intermediaries.
“This means they will no longer have to be forced into frameworks that were never designed for them,” he said.
Acknowledging the pace of technological change, the legislation provides regulators with the flexibility to adapt their obligations.
“Rigid rules could leave gaps or stifle new businesses,” Mulino said. “That is why the framework includes tools to adjust as technologies and services develop.”
The government is working with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on transitional arrangements prior to the reforms taking effect.
Mulino said the consultation process would ensure the final law is workable. “Above all, we’ve heard that what you need is clarity,” he said.
Speaking to Decrypt, Tom Matthews, Head of Corporate Affairs at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, a sponsor of Wednesday’s event, told Decrypt that Australia needs to improve its regulatory environment so that it’s “good enough for our industry to support national productivity.”
“We look forward to seeing the draft legislation and welcome the fact that the government has prioritized crypto so early in its new term,” he added. “This is the start of a long process, but it is an imperative that we have proper consumer protections that are balanced against the need for innovation.”
Australia has selected Gabrielle Brady’s Mongolian-language documentary The Wolves Always Come at Night as its submission for the best international feature category at the 2026 Academy Awards. Brady’s film will also run for consideration in the best documentary feature category.
Blending documentary and fiction, the film tells the story of Mongolian herders Davaasuren Dagvasuren and Otgonzaya Dashzeveg who make the difficult decision to leave their homelands after the arrival of a powerful and destructive sandstorm, a situation made worse by the climate crisis.
The Wolves Always Come premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in the Platform Prize program, although there was drama at the festival after Davaasuren and Otgonzaya were denied visitor visas by the Canadian government. The film also screened in competition at the London Film Festival in 2024 and screened at Zurich Film Festival, IDFA, San Francisco International Film Festival, True/False and Sydney Film Festival.
The Wolves Always Come at Night is the world’s first co-production between Germany, Australia and Mongolia. Executive producers include Oscar-winner Dan Cogan, Deanne Weir, Stefanie Plattner, Alexander Wadouh, and Emma Hindley. The film received principal production investment from Screen Australia and significant private investment from Weir Anderson Films, alongside Storming Donkey Productions. The Wolves Always Come at Night was also financed with support from BBC Storyville, SWR Arte, and Madman Films. Cinephil is repping for worldwide sales.
Australia’s Oscar submissions are chosen by a committee of industry professionals selected by Screen Australia.
Despite English being the de facto national language of Australia, the country has been consistently submitting films into the best international feature film (formerly the best foreign language film) category at the Oscars since 1996. As of 2025, sixteen Australian films have been submitted including Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr’s Yolngu Matha and Gunwinggu language film Ten Canoes (2006); Warwick Thornton’s Warlpiri language film Samson and Delilah (2009) which was shortlisted; Kim Mordaunt’s Lao language film The Rocket (2013); and Bentley Dean and Martin Butler’s Nauvhal language film Tanna (2016), which was awarded an official nomination.
