Australia news live: Barnaby Joyce defends Pauline Hanson’s meeting with Tommy Robinson; meth use surges in workplace drug use survey | Australia news
Josh Thomas weighs in on Divine Playhouse debate
The comedian Josh Thomas has weighed in on the row over the LGBT theatre based in a converted church in Sydney which is facing eviction after its landlord ordered it to cease “offensive trade”
The promoter and founder of Divine Playhouse says the venue faces significant operational, legal and financial challenges after the landlord, KCSYD Pty Ltd, said the theatre caused offence to “millions of Christian Australians”.
Thomas has described the situation as a “David v Goliath” battle.
The tenants invested so much time and money into this venue in good faith …
Surely they knew it was going to be a queer venue? They’re a giant company – they have the resources to check who’s moving in.
It’s going to be a David vs Goliath legal battle.
Read more here:
Key events
Barnaby Joyce defends Pauline Hanson’s meeting with Tommy Robinson
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has defended Pauline Hanson’s decision to meet with far-right activist Tommy Robinson in the United Kingdom.
I think one of the big things there is to understand the social dynamic that brought about Tommy Robinson.
Now, I don’t support so much of what Tommy Robinson does, but I think it’s incredibly important that we understand the social dynamic and how that came about.
Tommy Robinson only exists because of the fractious nature of where England has arrived at.
Joyce also said the media should be prepared to interview Robinson.
I think we’re all know that there is a massive following that he has, and we’ve got to understand that. And what we’ve got to do in Australia is make sure we don’t replicate the social disharmony that has brought that about.
Michelle Rowland says mandatory minimum standards for datacentres don’t apply to existing developments
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, told ABC News that mandatory minimum standards for datacentres would apply to new developments, not existing ones.
The scope and the timing of those is something that I think will be properly determined by national cabinet.
This is an issue that not only state governments but local councils have been dealing with as well.
We want a coordinated approach, we want to say Australia is open for business but on our terms.
If you need a lift this morning, Australian researchers tracked greater glider flights in New South Wales.
The first study to measure the aerial ability of Australia’s largest gliding marsupial has found they soar across an average distance of 19 metres – far shorter than the 100 metres suggested in an 85-year-old study.
They may look like flying carpets – but it turns out greater gliders are not as great at gliding as previously thought.
As Dr Ana Gracanin, a conservation biologist at the Australian National University, says it’s still a breath-taking sight:
It goes from being this hunched-over ball of fluff at the top of a tree looking down at you, to suddenly spreading out its limbs and flying over your head like a magical flying carpet, or this weird stingray-UFO thing in the sky.
You can watch gliders taking off (and read about the research) here:
Paul Dempsey welcomes PM’s ‘quite definitive’ words on AI
Australian musician Paul Dempsey, lead singer for Something for Kate, told ABC Melbourne he welcomed Anthony Albanese’s comments on artificial intelligence on Thursday.
I thought the prime minister’s words were quite definitive and very encouraging and I commend the government for basically upholding existing law.
We weren’t asking for any changes. It was in fact the giant tech companies that were asking for copyright law to be changed to benefit them.
So we’re just happy that the government have stood their ground and respected our ownership of our work. And, you know, not caved into basically these sort of ludicrous demands for charity from gigantic multibillion-dollar companies.
Josh Taylor
Environmental and community groups have called for a pause on datacentre development until new regulations are in place after Anthony Albanese promised “greater clarity and speed” over their approval.
In his landmark speech on artificial intelligence at the University of Sydney on Wednesday, the prime minister said Australia would create a legal obligation for large-scale datacentres to underwrite new power supply, pay their full share of grid connection, and add as much energy to the grid as they take out of it.
The prime minister noted all three obligations “take in every level of government and their overlapping powers” but said the national standards would ensure governments were on the same page.
Read more here:
Government flags tougher anti- modern slavery penalties following US tariffs
Krishani Dhanji
The government has promised to strengthen modern slavery laws, and penalise companies with revenue over $100m that fail to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.
The announcement comes after the Trump administration announced it would impose tariffs on countries that have failed to stop goods using forced labour and modern slavery entering.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said the government will consult on the details, and that there would be a defence available for a company if it could demonstrate they took reasonable steps to prevent modern slavery.
Rowland said:
The proposed changes will introduce greater accountability, levelling the playing field for the majority of Australian businesses already doing the right thing.
The government will also look to introduce civil penalties to address non-compliance under the existing modern slavery act.
Last week the Australian embassy in the United States made a submission to the government on the tariffs, calling them “unwarranted and unsupported by the record” and said there was “no credible evidentiary basis for any finding that Australia’s acts, policies or practices relating to forced labour are unreasonable, or that they burden or restrict U.S. commerce”.
The attorney general also appointed seven new members to the modern slavery expert advisory group yesterday.
Good morning, Petra Stock here to take the blog for you through the morning, fresh from watching Argentina versus England.
Man found dead at Glenmore Park home after house fire
A man has been found dead after a house fire in a suburb in Sydney’s west overnight.
Police said emergency services attended a fire at a home Glenmore Park just before 1am.
Police found the body of a man in front of a partially alight property. He has not yet been identified.
Amphetamine use rises among blue-collar workers
More Australian workers are taking meth on the job, Australian Associated Press reports.
The Drug Detection Agency, Australasia’s largest workplace drug-testing provider, on Thursday released its latest report for the final quarter of 2025/26.
The data shows the ingestion of amphetamine-type stimulants, including methamphetamine, soared over the year among the mostly blue-collar workers who underwent testing.
The presence of amphetamine-type stimulants accounted for 60% of all positive tests in the June quarter, a significant year-on-year rise of 17.9%.
Next in line was the use of opioids, including oxycodone, which made up 11.6% of positive tests, although usage was down over the year.
Cocaine was detected in 8% of positive tests in the quarter, an increase from the same period in the previous year.
Cannabis was also present in 39% of positive tests, but usage fell slightly annually.
Drugs were found in 3% of all screens conducted by the agency, which noted that rate was broadly unchanged from previous quarters.
By jurisdiction, Western Australia recorded the highest use of amphetamine-type stimulants at 88.6%, although the four other mainland states were all pushing 50% or above.
South Australia had the highest cocaine detections, Queensland the highest cannabis detections and Victoria the highest opioid detections.
NSW ranked second for cocaine and opioids, third for cannabis and four for meth.
Josh Thomas weighs in on Divine Playhouse debate
The comedian Josh Thomas has weighed in on the row over the LGBT theatre based in a converted church in Sydney which is facing eviction after its landlord ordered it to cease “offensive trade”
The promoter and founder of Divine Playhouse says the venue faces significant operational, legal and financial challenges after the landlord, KCSYD Pty Ltd, said the theatre caused offence to “millions of Christian Australians”.
Thomas has described the situation as a “David v Goliath” battle.
The tenants invested so much time and money into this venue in good faith …
Surely they knew it was going to be a queer venue? They’re a giant company – they have the resources to check who’s moving in.
It’s going to be a David vs Goliath legal battle.
Read more here:
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 with the main action.
Comedian Josh Thomas has weighed in on the Divine Playhouse saga, a queer-friendly theatre pop-up in Sydney that has been kicked out by its landlord.
A man has been found dead after a Sydney house fire, and a survey of workplace drug use has found a worrying increase in the use of methamphetamines, especially in Western Australia.
