Landmark CSIRO ‘Diversity’ facility opens, safeguarding 13 million specimens
Ima Caldwell
The CSIRO has officially opened a new “Diversity” building in Canberra – which includes a combined 13 million specimens from the Australian National Wildlife Collection and Australian National Insect Collection.
Inside temperature-controlled vaults are 55,000 birds, 17,000 orchids preserved in ethanol and the world’s largest collection of Australian insects and related invertebrates – including 2.4 million moths and butterflies and more than million beetles.
The facility makes the collections, procured over 150 years, accessible to researchers, governments and citizen scientists around the world.
Relocating the specimens to their new home took around a year.
Dr Clare Holleley, the director of CSIRO’s Australian national wildlife collection, said nature is declining at a rate unprecedented in human history and the collections serve as a library of life on Earth and a resource for caring for the environment:
Collection specimens allow us to better-understand long term trends in environmental response and to help prepare species for the challenges of the future.
In this new building, we’re solving the problems that nature presents to us in real time.
Key events
Watt confirms salmon farming to continue in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour
Lisa Cox
The Albanese government confirmed it will permit salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania, despite concerns from conservationists about the risks to the endangered Maugean skate.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, wrote to three environment groups on Wednesday notifying them of the widely expected decision, which follows the passage of amendments to Australia’s nature laws to protect the salmon industry earlier this year.
The groups, including the Bob Brown Foundation and the Australia Institute, had asked the government in 2023 to reconsider a 2012 decision to allow salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour without an assessment under Australia’s environmental laws. Watt said all relevant information had been carefully considered before reaching his decision:
The Albanese government remains committed to the protection of the Maugean skate, including through our funding of oxygenation measures in Macquarie Harbour.
Eloise Carr, director of the Australia Institute Tasmania, said:
Minister Watt is trying to put an end to this issue through this decision, but it’s not going away. Whether the changes to the EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation) Act apply to Macquarie Harbour remains an open question.
Anne Davies
Labor taps former journalist as pick for Kiama seat vacated by Gareth Ward
NSW Labor has nominated the former journalist Katelin McInerney to run as its candidate in a state byelection in Kiama that will be held on Saturday, 13 September
The byelection follows the resignation of the seat’s former MP, Gareth Ward, who is currently in jail awaiting sentence after being convicted of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and three indecent assault charges.
Ward had held the seat since 2011 – originally as a Liberal, but he won the seat as an independent in 2023 – despite the charges hanging over him. Labor is playing down expectations, with the NSW premier, Chris Minns, saying in a statement:
We have to be realistic about the challenge ahead. This will be a tough seat for Labor to win – but Katelin knows her community, she understands their priorities, and she will work tirelessly to deliver for them.
The Liberals have not yet announced their candidate but opposition leader Mark Speakman said Wednesday he thinks it is important to give people a choice.
Katelin McInerney said of her selection:
If I have the honour of being elected as the member, I will be a strong local voice and deliver more for our community. I will make sure that we continue to deliver the critical infrastructure and services that our community needs and relies on.
Josh Taylor
Age assurance trial preliminary findings ‘strong on hype and rhetoric’, stakeholder says
One of the members of the stakeholder advisory board for the trial of technology to keep under 16s off social media from December has challenged the interim report findings that the technology can be “private, robust and effective”.
Electronic Frontiers Australia’s chair, John Pane, said in a statement on Thursday the findings – released in June – were “strong on hype and rhetoric and difficult to reconcile with the evidence.”
Pane, who was a member of the stakeholder advisory board, described the interim report as “political talking points”, and the assessment of vendors’ privacy practices appeared to be a “tick-box compliance” of checking privacy policies rather than a thorough examination.
Pane said there was concerning evidence that personal data, including biometric data, could be held by the age assurance companies for access by law enforcement or regulators. He said:
From a privacy and information security perspective, this is an absolute nightmare!
The final report was provided to government at the start of August. It has not yet been release publicly, and EFA has not seen a copy of the final report.
Landmark CSIRO ‘Diversity’ facility opens, safeguarding 13 million specimens
Ima Caldwell
The CSIRO has officially opened a new “Diversity” building in Canberra – which includes a combined 13 million specimens from the Australian National Wildlife Collection and Australian National Insect Collection.
Inside temperature-controlled vaults are 55,000 birds, 17,000 orchids preserved in ethanol and the world’s largest collection of Australian insects and related invertebrates – including 2.4 million moths and butterflies and more than million beetles.
The facility makes the collections, procured over 150 years, accessible to researchers, governments and citizen scientists around the world.
Relocating the specimens to their new home took around a year.
Dr Clare Holleley, the director of CSIRO’s Australian national wildlife collection, said nature is declining at a rate unprecedented in human history and the collections serve as a library of life on Earth and a resource for caring for the environment:
Collection specimens allow us to better-understand long term trends in environmental response and to help prepare species for the challenges of the future.
In this new building, we’re solving the problems that nature presents to us in real time.
Mint honours 50th anniversary of The Rainbow Serpent with coloured 20 cent piece
The Royal Australian Mint is releasing coloured 20-cent uncirculated coins to mark the 50th anniversary of the Australian children’s book The Rainbow Serpent. There will be an coin available in both a card, a special edition book, and a deluxe edition book.
The Rainbow Serpent was written and illustrated by Indigenous Australian artist Dick Roughsey, a Lardil man from Mornington Island. His first paintings were on bark using traditional pigments from soil and black from charcoal.
The Rainbow Serpent celebrates rock art that first appeared in Arnhem Land at least 6,000 years ago. The Royal Australian Mint’s acting chief executive, Emily Martin, said:
At the heart of this program is a 20c coin, a small piece of metal that ignites curiosity and wonder, especially among children.
The colourful artwork on these coins reflects the original book artwork and is stunning in both silver and gold.
The coin in card is $17.50, with the coin in book selling for $50 and the gold plated uncirculated coin selling at $85, available from today.
Unemployment drops to 4.2%
Patrick Commins
The unemployment rate has dropped to 4.2% in July, partially reversing a surprise jump to 4.3% in the month before.
The number of employed Australians climbed by 24,500 in the month, including a big 60,500 rise in full-time employment, offset by a 35,900 drop in part-time work.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that the jobs market has remained one of the few bright spots through the post-pandemic economy.
The jobless rate has shifted lower from its pre-Covid level of more than 5%, and the RBA expects it to stay at about 4.3% for the foreseeable future.
Michele Bullock, the central bank’s governor, on Tuesday said labour market conditions remained “a little tight”, but remains hopeful that inflation can be held below 3% without any substantial rise in unemployment.
Wage price figures released yesterday revealed pay rates climbed by 3.4% in the year to June – well above the 2.1% rate of inflation.
Australia-US relationship drifting, Ley says
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said the lack of meetings between the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and US president, Donald Trump, showed the relationship between Australia and the US is “drifting”.
Many in the room today are reflecting the critical juncture at this time in history and the importance of the alliance with respect to that with the strategic rise of China, with the conflicts in the Middle East, with the geo-strategic circumstances the way they are, this means the alliance is more important than ever and it is not right for it to be drifting the way it is and it is a call to action for our prime minister and our government to step in and do more.
Ley met with members of the US congress today, and said she raised that US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is a “good friend of Australia” but would not say whether any of the members of congress raised Australia’s position on recognition of Palestine as a cause for concern.
Hamas ‘cheerleaders’ for PM, Ley says
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is holding a press conference in Adelaide
Ley claimed while the PM has said he is not a “cheerleader for Hamas” in recognising a Palestinian state, “Hamas is a cheerleader for him”.
She told reporters:
When you have terrorists cheering on your foreign policy, you know that you have got it wrong. Now, we know that the prime minister said he made this decision because Hamas did not support it.
Hamas did not support his decision, but instead we see Hamas coming out in full-throated praise of the prime minister. He must reverse this decision because when terrorists are cheerleaders for your foreign policy, you need to think again and reverse that position.
For context, the prime minister has repeatedly said Hamas would be excluded from any future Palestinian government, and said the terror group was “manipulating facts for their own propaganda”.
Australian weekly grocery spend jumps 11% from last year, and is now $240 on average
An Australian household of four now spends $240 on groceries a week, on average, an 11% jump from last year, according to data from Canstar Blue.
That figure represents the biggest annual increase in the last five years, the group said. The figure was $216 a week on average in 2024, $207 in 2023 and $203 in 2022.
Canstar said that total puts the grocery budget for a small family at $12,480 a year, on average.
The group surveyed 2,800 shoppers, who rated different supermarkets across a series of categories, including price, customers service and value for money. More than 80% of respondents said they had changed their shopping habits over the last year to try to keep grocery costs down.
Josh Taylor
More on Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar’s thoughts on AI and Australian art
Australia should adopt US-style copyright law to allow artificial intelligence to suck up all creative content or risk harming investment in the industry in Australia, according to Atlassian co-founder, Scott Farquhar.
Farquhar, the Tech Council of Australia CEO, told ABC’s 7.30 program on Tuesday: “all AI usage of mining or searching or going across data is probably illegal under Australian law and I think that hurts a lot of investment of these companies in Australia”.
This is because, he said, Australia doesn’t have fair use exemptions coded into copyright law like the US does.
Farquhar’s claim overlooks that this is not a settled issue in the US, and could have devastating effects on creative industries.
Read more here:
Former Wiggles CEO files Fair Work claim in federal court
Luke O’Neill, the former CEO of the Wiggles Group, has filed a Fair Work claim in federal court. The full details of the claim are not public, but it lists the application under the Fair Work Act citing allegations of “dismissal in contravention of a general protection”.
O’Neill left the company recently after being hired as its first CEO last year.
The claim lists the blue Wiggle, Anthony Field, as a respondent, as well as Wiggles general counsel, Matthew Salgo, and The Wiggles Holding Pty Limited.
Luca Ittimani
Origin Energy’s underlying profits jump to nearly $1.5b
Origin Energy’s underlying profits have jumped by $300m to nearly $1.5bn for the year because it paid less tax on its gas production arm, offsetting falling earnings from electricity and gas.
The energy provider, which operates the Eraring coal-fired power station, reported sliding earnings in its annual report this morning.
Electricity pre-tax profit slipped $224m as retail prices fell and coal costs rose, while lower wholesale prices cut natural gas profits. That dragged underlying earnings down to $3.4bn from $3.5bn across the business.
Origin also sold less gas for less cash via its natural gas production joint venture, Australia Pacific LNG – the biggest gas producer on Australia’s east coast. That business segment paid Origin nearly $800m in dividends in the year to June, after paying $1.4bn the year prior – but this time, the segment had already paid tax.
That cut Origin’s annual tax bill by nearly $360m in the year to June.
NSW SES warns of flash flooding for parts of Central Coast
NSW State Emergency Services is warning of flash flooding on the Central Coast after heavy rainfall. The alert applies to residents of Corlette, Nelson Bay and Salamander Bay, with officials warning residents to never drive, walk or play in flood waters.
The Hazard Watch app currently shows a severe weather Watch and Act alert for Tomaree and its surrounds, with guidance that the situation may change quickly.
Heavy rainfall is causing flash flooding in Nelson Bay⚠️
A warning is current for residents of Corlette, Nelson Bay & Salamander bay due to flash flooding on roads and water entering homes.
NEVER drive, walk or play in floodwaters. pic.twitter.com/u6pjhUm17x
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) August 13, 2025
Albanese says leaked Treasury advice doesn’t mean roundtable a ‘waste of everyone’s time’
The prime minister was asked about the leaked Treasury document given to the ABC this morning that includes recommended outcomes for the productivity roundtable taking place next week. Albanese said you would expect “Treasury to be giving advice about a forum that’s about the economy” and defended against a question if the event was a “waste of everyone’s time”:
Ideas are popping up all the time. You’re reporting on those ideas. Those ideas are getting assessed as they’re being made. Government will make decisions, to be very clear, governments make decisions.
What next week, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies and that’s a really constructive thing. My government is unashamedly an open government.
Albanese insisted he is open to a “range of reforms”.
Albanese says media should be ‘very careful’ about repeating ‘Hamas propaganda’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was asked about Hamas’ statement yesterday praising his decision to recognise a Palestinian state at next month’s UN general assembly.
Albanese said the media should be “very careful about the fact that Hamas will engage in propaganda because what is happening is the international community are united about isolating Hamas, about supporting a peaceful way forward”.
He went on about the media:
They shouldn’t repeat Hamas’ propaganda because it is Hamas which will engage in propaganda because they are being isolated. Because the world was horrified by the events of October 7 and the world condemns and says, including the Arab League, that Hamas must be isolated, it must be disarmed.
The hostages should be released and [we] have condemned what occurred on October 7. So I won’t be a cheer squad for Hamas and for its statements. What I’ll do is say that Hamas should be isolated.
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
Victorian Greens slam ‘backroom’ deal on ethics committee appointments: ‘Like letting the fox guard the henhouse’
The Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, criticised a “backroom deal” between Labor and the Liberals she says has prevented any crossbenchers from being appointed to the parliament’s new ethics committee.
The creation of the committee was a key part of the parliamentary workplace standards and integrity bill, which was developed in response to an investigation by state’s integrity bodies into branch-stacking in the Labor party, as well as a 2021 review of workplace standards.
The committee is meant to promote integrity, oversee MPs’ codes of conduct and rebuild public trust but Sandell says this is undermined by its makeup:
This so-called ethics committee will be the only joint committee in the entire parliament with no crossbench representatives, controlled by the two parties with the longest track record of rorts.
It’s a calculated move so Labor and Liberal MPs can keep writing their own rules around MP behaviour, and avoid any scrutiny. It’s like letting the fox guard the henhouse. This Labor-Liberal backroom deal is nothing more than a protection racket.
Westpac’s quarterly profit hits $1.9bn, up 14% over first half of the year
Westpac’s third-quarter net profit hit $1.9bn for the three months to 30 June, a 14% climb over the first half of 2025.
The bank said it is piloting new AI technology to enhance “real-time scam detection”.
Anthony Miller, Westpac’s CEO, said in a statement:
The resilience of both households and businesses has been aided by the reduction in interest rates and the moderation of inflation …
Our strong financial foundations provide us with the stability and capacity to support our people, customers, shareholders and the broader economy.
Telstra records $2.3bn net profit, up 31% over last year
Luca Ittimani
Telstra’s profits have bounced back 31% after mobile phone plan users paid out a couple more dollars each than they had the year prior.
Telstra raked in an extra $235m from its mobile business in the year to June, a 4.7% rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
The company sold an extra 760,000 mobile services and now operates 24.9m plans. A third of those are postpaid users, who paid up an average of $54.15 each a month, a dollar more than they did in June 2024.
The company provided 56,000 fewer post-paid plans than it had a year earlier after closing 64,000 inactive accounts. Nearly 60,000 customers quit their prepaid plans and another 17,000 saw their services disconnected when the 3G network closed, though the remaining prepaid plan users paid Telstra over 8% more on average than they had the previous year.
The company announced net profit of $2.3bn in its annual report this morning, much higher than the $1.8bn it reported last year when it was having trouble with one of its consulting subsidiaries, Telstra Enterprise.
Telstra committed a further $800m spend on improving 5G performance and other mobile coverage, and said its Sydney-Canberra capital intercity fibre network will be extended to Melbourne by December.
It paid out a final dividend of 9.5 cents per share, as it did in its interim result earlier this year, and announced it will buy back up another $1bn worth of shares, having bought $750m already.