‘Things are getting worse,’ Kellie Sloane says after alleged DV incidents

Kellie Sloane, the NSW opposition leader, also spoke about a series of alleged domestic violence incidents in the state in recent days.

Sloane told ABC News Breakfast this morning:

Something is broken and we’re failing women in our state and our country. It’s a national crisis. … Every time this happens, we treat it as a wake-up call. People say we need action.

We need to talk to men about respect. We need to talk to women about being respectful. We need more funding.

We’re in a hopeless situation where things are getting worse. So, you know, this is not just the responsibility of government, although government has a responsibility to properly fund and manage this, but it needs to be a whole of community response. Our sporting clubs, dads in the homes respecting their wives, talking to their kids about what respect means, and then neighbours checking in on people as well.

The Coalition’s education plan to reduce First Nations content from the curriculum would give Australian children a “broader perspective of history” according to Dan Tehan.

Speaking to Radio National, the Liberal MP said:

We won’t be becoming apologists for who we are. We’ll becoming proud of who we are, what we’ve created as a nation and what we can contribute to the rest of the world. It’s all about getting the balance right and that’s what we’ll be seeking to do in how we have the curriculum taught in schools.

Those western civilisation values, in particular, are what is at the heart of who we are as a nation. We want to make sure that that is equally part of the curriculum as it’s taught to young Australians.

The shadow education minister, Julian Leeser, revealed on Saturday that a Coalition government would remove cross-curriculum content about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture, Australia’s engagement with Asia, and sustainability.

He said they should instead be delivered as discrete, planned topics within history, geography or science classes – rather than taught thematically across the curriculum.

Read more:

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, spoke earlier this morning after a spate of alleged domestic violence crimes this weekend.

He said:

We have numerous examples and allegations of individuals who [are] alleged to have committed horrifying acts against what are often defenceless family members. This is confronting and incredibly violent, but we can’t become numb to the pain or the violence that we see.

We still need to take action and commit ourselves across government agencies, law reform, our prisons, New South Wales police, and education and other aspects of government agencies, as well as across civic society, to confront domestic violence when we see it.

NSW police detail ‘horrific’ scenes after Blue Mountains stabbings

Peter McKenna, deputy commissioner for NSW police, just spoke after an alleged stabbing attack by a mother against her three young children, which left one child dead and two others in critical condition.

McKenna said the mother, aged in her 40s, is also in critical condition after the incident, which took place in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, on Sunday afternoon. He said police responded to “horrific” scenes and officer were confronted with a “barbaric” attack.

“I can’t remember a weekend like this in my career,” the deputy commissioner told reporters.

McKenna said the woman, if she recovers from what’s believed to be self-inflicted injuries, would probably be charged with murder and attempted murder.

He said the family was not known to police. The woman’s husband is supporting his two children in hospital and has assisted police with their investigation.

Read more here:

Plibersek says polls ‘not great’ but Labor focused on cost of living

Tanya Plibersek says the Labor party isn’t focused on polling, despite the results. She told Sunrise this morning:

The polls are obviously not great, but we are not focused on the polling. What we’re focused on is making a real difference in people’s lives. We know that they’re doing it tough. We hear that. …

In every part of our government, we are wholly focused on taking pressure off Australians. We know they’re feeling it because they tell us.

Plibersek said the government needs to remain focused on cost of living and taking pressure off Australians while making sure wages grow.

We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn through lower taxes. … It’s those sorts of practical things that make a difference to people’s lives. That’s what we need to focus on as a government and that’s what we’ll keep doing.

Albanese and Labor hit record low popularity in latest Newspoll

Anthony Albanese is the most unpopular he has ever been since becoming prime minister in 2022, a new poll shows.

AAP reports The Australian’s closely watched Newspoll tally has slugged the prime minister with a minus 27% net satisfaction rating, with only about a quarter of Australians now saying they would cast their vote for Labor – the lowest in nearly 15 years.

The week before receiving a record-breaking belting in the 2025 election, former Liberal leader Peter Dutton scored minus 24% on the same metric.

The major parties combined performed abysmally in the latest poll, with 54% of those surveyed now supporting someone other than Labor or the Coalition.

One Nation is continuing to dine out on the mass exodus with a leading 30% of the primary vote share, but Australians still prefer Albanese to Pauline Hanson as prime minister.

The rise of Way Dynamic, Australian folk-pop musician

It’s been a huge couple of years for Way Dynamic, the Melbourne multi-instrumentalist whose real name is Dylan Young. His 2025 album Massive Shoe is about to be re-released internationally after Young signed with the indie giant Jagjaguwar. The likes of Elton John, Djo, Zane Lowe and Elijah Wood have sung his praises.

Have a read about the musicians’s rise above, and take a listen to his music below on this fine Monday morning:

Australians won’t be hit with card surcharges from 1 October

Debit and credit card surcharges will be eliminated from 1 October, as part of Reserve Bank reforms that will do away with extra checkout fees on Visa, Mastercard, and Eftpos payments.

The RBA estimates the changes will save consumers about $1.6bn a year in surcharges, but the big banks and credit companies are likely to recoup the costs of processing transactions in other ways, including through fewer perks for cardholders.

What will happen now?

I think the health experts need to explain why they’re OK with … organised crime in this country, criminal gangs in this country, controlling the tobacco trade. 80% of the trade is illegal. You can already buy a packet of cigarettes for 15 bucks a pack or less. So I mean, seriously, we can’t take those comments seriously.

NSW domestic violence rental reforms in effect from today

Rental reforms which make it easier for victim-survivors of domestic violence to leave a rental property in NSW are in effect from today, the state government says.

Under the changes, victim-survivors no longer need to notify people they share a lease with they are leaving a rental property, cannot be held responsible for damage caused by domestic and family violence, and must be asked for permission to publish images of the property that show their belongings. The government says victim-survivors have now have broader rights to change locks without landlord consent.

The NSW fair trading minister, Anoulack Chanthivong, said the reforms “deliver on the Minns Labor government’s promise to make renting fairer by replacing unsafe, outdated laws with practical, compassionate protections which put victim-survivors first”.

During debate on the laws, which passed last year, the cross bench and domestic violence advocates raised concerns that last-minute changes to laws on pets in rentals, making it easier for landlords to prevent pets, would make it harder for DV victim-survivors who want to find a safe place to go with their animals.

Domestic Violence NSW Deputy CEO, Pia Birac, has said today’s changes “remove some of the practical barriers that can make it harder for women to leave violence and rebuild their lives”.

Now we need to build awareness and understanding of these new protections so women can confidently exercise their rights and the professionals around them can support them every step of the way.