Australians advised reconsidering travel to Lebanon
Australia has led the departure of all family members of Australian officials placed in Israel and Lebanon as a precautionary measure due to regional tensions.
The government has also offered voluntary departure to dependents of Australian officials stationed in Jordan, Qatar and the UAE and continues to advise a high degree of caution in these destinations.
Australia’s embassies in Tel Aviv and Beirut remained open, but the situation in the Middle East was “unpredictable” and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said people should reconsider travel to Lebanon and Israel.
‘If you join in [these two countries]we continue to advise you to consider exiting while commercial exit options are still available,” Dfat said on its Smartraveller website.
The site warned last night:
The security situation in the Middle East is unpredictable. Regional tensions remain high and there remains a risk of military conflict.
Without warning, the situation can worsen.
It said Australians should monitor events, follow the advice of local authorities and follow the latest updates Smartraveller.gov.au.
Gambling reform advocate reiterates calls for regulators and ban on advertising
Venerable Tim Costellothe chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, spoke to RN Breakfast this morning about efforts to combat gambling, including the rollout of BetStop, a self-exclusion register.
Costello said Australians live in an “extraordinary reality” where you “cannot escape gambling”:
We are literally satiated. You know, unfortunately, gambling companies now even own our children…
Right now you have the farcical situation where you can’t be on social media under 16, which I support. But they are inundated with gambling advertisements online and on TV. Last year, 900,000 young Australians gambled, even though it is now illegal.
Costello reiterated calls for a national gambling regulator and a ban on gambling advertising, saying he believes a majority of the Labor caucus would support these moves. But he said it appears the industry has a stranglehold on society.
More than 53,000 Australians had registered with BetStop between its launch in August 2023 and December 1, 2025. MONKEY reports. The self-exclusion register blocks access to providers of telephone and online gambling services and prevents them from contacting the person.
However, a study into BetStop’s efficacy found areas for improvement, as well as “several serious breaches” by gambling companies targeting people on the register.
Costello called it a “really good program,” but too few people had heard of it.
Boy on e-scooter allegedly hit at pedestrian crossing in western Sydney
A boy riding an e-scooter was reportedly hit at a zebra crossing in Sydney’s west last night.
Emergency services were called to South Granville around 10 p.m. On arrival, paramedics treated the boy, 10, before he was taken to Westmead Children’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The driver, a 29-year-old man, was taken to hospital for mandatory tests. No charges have been filed.
A crime scene has been established.
“There will be more cuts in the budget,” Chalmers said
Chalmers said the upcoming Budget will be “ambitious” but will also recognize the “pressures on people, but also the pressures more broadly on our economy”.
He said these include inflation, productivity and “all this global economic uncertainty.”
These are the key factors and pressures we are focusing on as we get closer to making some key decisions about what will and will not be in the May Budget.
The budget, he added, includes cost savings.
“We have made that clear,” Chalmers said. “It’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to deliver the biggest positive swing in the budget since federation. People can expect more of that in May. And as part of that, there will be more savings.”
Chalmers said the government is “very focused” on inflation ahead of the next federal budget
Treasurer Jim Chalmers spoke to RN Breakfast amid the latest inflation figures, which show price rises continuing into 2026 and reinforce forecasts for another rate hike. Inflation remained at 3.8% in January.
Chalmers told RN:
Inflation was stable in January, but higher than we would like. We are honest about that. I don’t make predictions about future interest rate movements, but I assure your listeners that the government is very focused on this inflation challenge. It’s a big part of our thinking in the run-up to the Budget in May…
But we have made a lot of progress together as a country since inflation peaked in 2022. But inflation has been higher for longer than we would like, and that means there is more work to be done.
Man dies in fire in western Sydney
A man died and a woman was taken to hospital after a fire in Sydney’s west last night.
Emergency services were called to a unit in St Marys at around 7.15pm. Upon arrival, officers found the third floor of the unit complex ‘well on fire’.
A woman, believed to be in her 40s, was able to evacuate and was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition. Fire and Rescue later extinguished the blaze, before the body of a man, believed to be in his 40s, was found inside.
A crime scene has been cordoned off and an investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.
Two men are due to appear in court accused of kidnapping and murdering Chris Baghsarian in Sydney
Two men will appear in Bankstown Local Court today charged with the kidnap and murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian, whose body was found on the outskirts of Sydney this week.
The pair were arrested yesterday at addresses in Kenthurst and Castle Hill before police last night said they had been charged.
Here’s our full story:
Good morning and have a nice Thursday. Nick Visser here to guide you through the morning’s news. Let’s get started.
NSW Premier Chris Minns plans crackdown on gay violence
NSW Premier Chris Minns is exploring legislative changes to tackle hate crimes against gay and bisexual people in the wake of shocking reports of Islamic State-inspired violence.
After one ABC report After detailing several attacks in Sydney, Minns said last night he had spoken to officials from the Cabinet Office and the Attorney General’s Department about “looking at changes to the law to impose massive new penalties specifically to tackle this abhorrent behaviour”.
We will not allow a situation in New South Wales where people are targeted because of their sexuality by someone else.
I want to ensure that we are in a situation where the police have the resources and the DPP has the resources so that if someone is convicted of a crime like that, he or she can have the book thrown at them and get a significant prison sentence.
It’s never acceptable, and I imagine there are a lot of young people, a lot of gay people online who would normally expect to meet someone from their community and do it in a safe way, to be targeted in this way. It is a throwback to a shocking period in Sydney’s history, and it will not be tolerated in 2026. We will soon be looking at urgent legislation to tackle this shocking new crime.
Australians advised reconsidering travel to Lebanon
Australia has led the departure of all family members of Australian officials placed in Israel and Lebanon as a precautionary measure due to regional tensions.
The government has also offered voluntary departure to dependents of Australian officials stationed in Jordan, Qatar and the UAE and continues to advise a high degree of caution in these destinations.
Australia’s embassies in Tel Aviv and Beirut remained open, but the situation in the Middle East was “unpredictable” and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said people should reconsider travel to Lebanon and Israel.
‘If you join in [these two countries]we continue to advise you to consider exiting while commercial exit options are still available,” Dfat said on its Smartraveller website.
The site warned last night:
The security situation in the Middle East is unpredictable. Regional tensions remain high and there remains a risk of military conflict.
Without warning, the situation can worsen.
It said Australians should monitor events, follow the advice of local authorities and follow the latest updates Smartraveller.gov.au.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I am Martin Farrer with the latest news from the morning before Nick Visser takes over the wheel.
The Prime Minister of New South Wales, Chris remembersis exploring changes to the law to tackle hate crimes against gay and bisexual people following shocking reports of Islamic State-inspired violence. More to come.
Two men will appear in Bankstown Local Court today charged with the kidnap and murder of an 85-year-old Chris Baghsarianwhose body was found on the outskirts of Sydney this week. The pair were arrested yesterday before police last night said they had been charged.
And as tensions rise in the Middle East, the Australian government has ordered evacuations of the families of diplomats and officials in Lebanon and Israel, and offered voluntary evacuations to people in three other countries.
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