Month: October 2025

Source: Tasmania Police

Issued: 3 Oct 2025

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) and the Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) are working together after a bushfire entered Cape Palmerston National Park on 3 October 2025.

The bushfire entered the Ilbilbie section of the national park and has impacted about 20 hectares of protected estate. Two QPWS crews are in the national park, working alongside the RFSQ.

Cape Palmerston National Park is closed until further notice. As a precautionary measure, police are assisting 41 campers out of the area.

QPWS is contacting people who have camping bookings for the next four days. They will be offered refunds.

Smoke may affect residents and motorists in the area. Residents should close their doors and windows and keep medication close by if suffering from a respiratory condition. Motorists should use caution and drive to conditions.

If you believe your property is under threat, you should call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Keep up to date on current conditions and closures by visiting Park alerts. If you are planning to visit a national park or state forest this bushfire risk period, stay up to date with park, fire and weather conditions. Obey all signage and directions from authorities and never enter closed areas.

Source: New South Wales – News

About 2.15pm today (Friday 3 October), police and emergency services were called to a house in Dorothy Street after reports that a man had been found unconscious.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the man could not be revived and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A 42-year-old woman from the property was arrested and is being interviewed by detectives.

It is believed the man and woman were in a domestic relationship and lived together at the address.

Detectives from Major Crime Investigation Branch and officers from Forensic Response Section are travelling to the scene to assist with the investigation.

Anyone with information that can assist police is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

255484

Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism: Can I welcome all our good friends from the media to the so-called lion’s den. This is a real one. Given that we are here at the safari park, the Monarto Safari Park. And can I welcome my very good friend Todd McClay from New Zealand, my very close working partner on the issue of trade. Now you might ask, why are we here at a safari park? Well, one of my portfolios beyond trade, of course, is tourism. And this magnificent new safari park that’s just been opened by myself and the Premier in the last few weeks, we thought was a good opportunity to present this beautiful park to the people of New Zealand. If they’re interested in making a visit to South Australia, as we know many of them are, this is an absolutely fantastic spot to visit. So, we’re very pleased you decided to come to this safari park with us.

We have an extremely close relationship with New Zealand. Our closer economic relationship is one of the standout trade relationships in the world. And this is my fourth meeting as an Australian Minister with my New Zealand counterparts. But we think we can do more in a world that’s becoming increasingly more difficult for trade. We think we can set an example to the rest of the world about just how successful trading relationships can be. And there’s been no greater success from Australia’s point of view than our relationship with New Zealand. There’s much more that we can do, and today’s meeting, of course, has gone through all of those issues. For instance, in the case of standards, the more we can ensure that our standards apply both to New Zealand and Australia, the greater trade opportunities that we can engage in. So, we’re looking forward to doing more with New Zealand and set an example for the rest of the world.

Now, we don’t just work with New Zealand in a two-way way. Last week, Todd and I were in Malaysia, where we were building relationships not just with the ASEAN region, because that was the purpose of the meeting, but with other countries right around the world. And we think as nations we can do more together on that international stage. Later in the year, Todd will be coming over for the CPTPP meeting. This is one of the great examples of a trade agreement that’s top class, one of the best agreements in the world, great competition from other countries to participate and to join together. And so we are looking forward to building on the good work that we’ve already done in the CPTPP together. Australia is hosting it this year. And one of the interesting things about it, of course, is that the Europeans have expressed an interest in coming to the meeting and my good friend, the European Trade Minister, Mr. Šefčovič, will be participating.

The final thing I’d like to talk about is what we’re doing on the world stage at the World Trade Organisation. There will be a meeting of the World Trade Organisation in March of next year. Both Australia and New Zealand have great ambition of reforming the WTO to make it fit for purpose, to ensure that all of the things that our two countries are doing together can, in fact, be reflected on the world stage. Australia believes in free and fair trade. We want to do more trade, not less trade. We want to do more trade because what we know is that if you’re an outward looking Australian company, your profits are likely to be higher. More importantly, the wages of your staff are likely to be higher. So, we believe very strongly in free and fair trade, and I look forward to doing more with New Zealand and the rest of the world. Later, over the weekend, of course, I’m taking Todd and his wife to our vineyard in the Clare Valley so he can see firsthand some of the wonderful, clean and green food and wine that Australia, but particularly South Australia, and particularly the Clare Valley, has to offer.

All yours, Todd.

The Hon Todd McClay MP, NZ Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Forestry, Minister for Trade and Investment and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs: Well, Don, thank you very much. And ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It’s a privilege and a pleasure to be here. Don is right. I very easily can say that our most important relationship anywhere in the world, New Zealand, is with Australia. And when it comes to trade, you know, businesses across the Tasman have worked as hard as our governments have to grow trade, to create jobs, to pay our citizens more. This is an opportunity for us to not only, you know, draw attention to the success of the Closer Economic Relations agreement, but also to deliver on the objectives set by our two Prime Ministers when they met earlier this year in Queenstown in New Zealand to deepen the Single Economic Market, to grow the CER agreement and to find ways to bring down barriers and create greater certainty for our businesses, both in trade and investment across the Tasman. New Zealand-Australia work extremely well together around the world. We have very similar approach to trade. You know, good rules that are fair, that, you know, increase exports in two directions and grow that certainty. And so, it’s a pleasure to be here and to join with Don. I think this is my third visit to Australia this year, and there’ll be one more, as Don said, for the CPTPP meeting.

In all occasions we’ve been focusing on how we can, you know, remove rules that get in the way of business, simplify them and to bring costs down for New Zealand and Australian businesses in their trade. You know, in a world at the moment where there is uncertainty around trade, our job as two governments and two Trade Ministers is to create greater certainty so exporters can choose for themselves where they want to put effort, where they would like to sell their goods and their services. And we have a very simple and clear message for them. The two governments of Australia and New Zealand are committed to, you know, bringing down barriers and increasing certainty, driving down costs to your benefit. And in turn, we would ask you to join with us to grow trans-Tasman trade and find ways to invest in each other’s economies that will grow our presence not only around the Asia-Pacific, but in many other parts of the world. With that in mind, thanks for your generosity and for hosting us here. He’s brought me to the lion’s den to negotiate as tough as Australian negotiators always have. But I can tell you it’s a privilege and a pleasure to be here. And on my part, I’ll do my very best over the next day or two to help grow your local economy through consumption of food and wine.

Farrell: We’re really pussycats when it comes to negotiations with New Zealand. Alright, questions?

Journalist: In your discussions today, did you discuss how we could better work together as two countries to better capitalise on the Indo-Pacific, specifically [indistinct]?

Farrell: Yeah, look, I did mention that last week we were in ASEAN. I think we were very warmly, both countries, were very warmly accepted into the ASEAN fold. Australia, through Austrade, have put 22 new people into the ASEAN region. Too often in the past, I think we’ve flown over Southeast Asia to deliver goods into China, into Japan, into South Korea. Now I think we’re focused very much on our region. It’s a growing region, both population-wise and economically. Both of our countries are very well-received. We have a really good, clean and green image for our agricultural and wine produce. And I think there’s an opportunity now to do things in Southeast Asia well beyond what we’ve been able to do in the past.

Todd.

McClay: Yeah, Australia and New Zealand have a number of trade agreements with Southeast Asia. From the RCEP agreement, which, you know, countries are now looking, other countries are looking to join, to the AANZFTA agreement, Australia-New Zealand, with ASEAN countries, which was upgraded and entered into force earlier this year. That gives us a real opportunity, our businesses in that market. But one of the things I think that we hear collectively from Australia-New Zealand businesses when they enter some of these markets in different countries, their approach and standards can be different. Not the way that they’re treated, tariff rates are clear, but the ease of which they do business. So, the real big opportunity for us to grow exports and grow trade with Southeast Asia is getting that greater certainty for businesses when they go in there. If you go into one country, when you go to another, you’re treated very, very similarly. 

You know, the reason that we have negotiated and concluded these trade agreements in New Zealand-Australia, with the ASEAN nations, is to give that certainty and to make it easier to trade. It’s something that the governments of those countries also want to do. And so, the real opportunity in the coming years is collectively to advance that conversation with ASEAN nations and saying that if we can simplify the rules to get goods and services across our borders in both directions, two-way trade will grow amongst all of our countries. And directly that means companies that earn more and pay their workers, their citizens more.

Journalist: How important is this relationship with Australia at the moment, given the state of the global trade market? Obviously, New Zealand is hit so much harder when it comes to those tariffs from Trump. 

McClay: Look, it’s always been an important relationship and irrespective of the uncertainty that happens around the world, there are challenges when it comes to trade and trade rules at the moment, and the system has been shaken. But New Zealand and Australia stand locked at the hip to ensure that we can advocate for the benefits of trade. Our economies have grown as a result of producing high-quality, safe food and fibre and providing services that the world’s consumers want. We’ve just got to find better ways to have our exporters get those things to market.

But for New Zealand, as with Australia, the world is always a challenging place when it comes to trade. We are two nations who, our citizens, do things exceptionally well, and others will always try to protect. My job and Don’s job as Trade Ministers is to bring those barriers down, to promote our companies and to make it easier for them as we level the playing field. And we will continue to do that together.

Farrell: I think it’s worth noting that, certainly at my meeting with the Americans last week in Malaysia, we continue to prosecute the argument that tariffs are the wrong way to go. If a country imposes a tariff on you, then they’re saying that we want to buy less of your goods. And from Australia’s point of view, not only are we prosecuting the argument that we shouldn’t be subject to new tariffs, but nor should our friends in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world. Free and fair trade increases your prosperity of your citizens. Why have both of our countries been so prosperous over the years? We’ve been able to engage in free and fair trade. We don’t want tariffs to apply to Australia, but nor do we want tariffs to apply to New Zealand. And we will continue to prosecute the argument that it’s the wrong course of action, it’s the wrong economic course of action, to go down the path of increased tariffs.

Journalist: I have some questions on another matter. I don’t know if AAP want wants to–.

Farrell: Dom, if you’ve got any questions.

Journalist: I do. I do have a few questions for Todd and yourself.

Farrell: Yes. Okay. Fire away.

Journalist: I just wanted to start with, are you seeing more interest in CPTPP given volatility around trade barriers and the tariffs?

Farrell: I’m sorry, I just missed that question, Dom.

Journalist: Are you seeing more interest from other nations, you mentioned the EU wanted to join talks around the CPTPP, given the volatility around trade barriers and tariffs?

Farrell: Yes. Well, the CPTP, CTPPP [sic] is a very ambitious trade agreement that has been very beneficial to both of our countries and all of those countries that are part of it. As a result, we’ve recently seen the United Kingdom wanting to join. And last year in New Zealand, we were able to add the United Kingdom to the group. 

In the last few weeks, we’ve seen an interest from the European Union in having discussions with us about how they can interact with the CPTPP. But on top of that, there’s now more than half a dozen countries around the world that can see the benefits of free and fair trade and want to join. So, countries like Uruguay, like Costa Rica, like Indonesia, just to name a few, have expressed an interest in joining our group.

So, when we meet in a few weeks’ time, we’ll be talking amongst ourselves about just who and under what circumstances we admit other countries. The important thing to remember about the CPTPP is that every decision has to be a consensus decision. So, if we add additional countries, then that’s got to be agreed by all of the existing parties to the CPPTP [sic]. So, we’ll have continuing discussions and of course, as part of that will be the very close relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

Journalist: On critical minerals. Sorry, unless –

Farrell: Yep. Fire away.

Journalist: Yeah, on critical minerals, are we offering the US stakes in any critical mineral reserves? And how would that look? How would that operate in practise?

Farrell: So, when I was in Malaysia last week, one of the things that we discussed with the United States Trade Representative was access to our critical minerals. Those discussions are underway. I think there’s interest from both Australia’s point of view and the United States’ point of view in reaching agreement on the future of critical minerals.

Earlier this week, I was a kilometre underground at Roxby Downs with the Premier, where we announced the doubling of copper production at Olympic Dam. So, at the moment we produce about 300,000 tonne of high-grade copper, which is one of the critical minerals that we’re talking about with the Americans. The decision was by BHP was to invest to double that production to 600,000 tonnes of high-grade copper per year. 

So, we’ve got the critical minerals that the world needs, we believe we’ve got the technology to extract it and certainly, in the case of BHP, to produce that high-quality product to the rest of the world. We want to be one of the countries that ensures that we have great supply chains to ensure that we can not only produce the product but to supply it to the rest of the world, whether it’s in the part of the renewable space or with high tech. Because high tech, of course, needs all of these critical minerals.

So, yes, we’re having discussions with the Americans. Those discussions have not yet been finalised, but we’ll continue to engage very positively with, with the United States on that score.

McClay: If I may, we too, sorry – we too have done a survey and taken a stocktake of, you know, minerals in New Zealand and have a number of rare earth minerals that are available. There’s a lot of interest from around the world in this, and I think it will be quite a competitive process as the government moves forward to make those available to the private sector and others. 

I expect in that interest a significant number of Australian companies will show interest across the Tasman and will be very welcome to come and look at how we might extract that to grow the wealth for all New Zealanders, but at the same time provide the minerals the world needs to grow economies and meet demand of energy.

Journalist: One for both of you, the same question. Is there room for a joint bid to go to the US if it comes to any agreement on critical minerals, or to kind of provide a united front in case there’s tariffs imposed on any critical minerals? In terms of, how do I say it, I guess to offer a more enticing offer to the US President.

McClay: Well, look, I can start with that. We’re always very keen to work closely with Australia, particularly if it’s good for, you know, the economies, our two economies at the same time sends a very clear message of the benefits of trade. But ultimately, I would be surprised if we saw tariffs on critical minerals because they are in demand and someone else would always want to buy them.

Farrell: Yeah, look, we haven’t had those sorts of discussions, Dom, you’re often one step ahead of us. And so, we’ll see what emerges in the weeks and months ahead.

Journalist: And then we’ve seen, sorry – well, one to both you again. We’re both negotiating with India over a free trade agreement or over free trade agreements after stalled negotiations. Do you both see your respective countries signing anything soon, either in this space or more broadly, given the disruption to the global trading order?

Farrell: I might answer that question first. Dom, you’re not going to believe this, but while I was talking in our meeting with Todd, I got a message from Minister Goyal in India to say, look, we’re keen to keep the discussions about a free trade agreement, a new free trade agreement, because we already have a free trade agreement with India. We consider the Indians great friends. In our last term of government, we implemented the Indian free trade agreement. And already there’s been significant benefits for our agriculture and our manufacturing into India. We believe we can do more. That means greater access for our agricultural products into India. My good friend Ravi is over here today. He’s my chief negotiator. He’s the toughest man I’ve ever met in my life. And we’ve given him the toughest job of negotiating that free trade agreement.

I believe we will get an extended free trade agreement with India. I think we want to send a message to the rest of the world that there are countries that still believe in free and fair trade. And Australia and India are in that category. India, population of 1.4 billion people. By the end of the end of this decade, they hope to have 700 million people in what they define as the middle class. What do we know about countries as their living standards rise? Well, they want better food, and they want better wine. There’s no country, New Zealand excepted, who’s in a better position to deliver that to the Indian community. India now represents our largest group of migrants, our largest group of tourists, and our largest group of students. We’ve got a really strong relationship. There’s a great relationship with Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Albanese. I believe the opportunity is there to reach a new agreement to even do more with India. And that’s one of my objectives in the weeks and months ahead.

McClay: Well, look, thank you. It’s a very important relationship for New Zealand, too. And before we formed the government almost two years ago, we said that we’d make our relationship with India a strategic priority across all fronts, including trade. We formally launched negotiations with India earlier this year. When I visited India with my Prime Minister, we took our largest ever business delegation along for that week to look for ways to grow trade outside of a negotiation. We’ve had a number of formal rounds now, the most recent one was held in New Zealand just a few weeks ago. And we’re making very, very good progress. 

The challenge that you have in trade is actually good things take time to get there. But both sides are committed to delivering a high-quality trade agreement as quickly as possible. And it’s a government, we’re committed to doing it during this term of Parliament, which means before the end of last year. I think that is more than possible because you’re seeing a willingness from India to reach high-quality trade agreements with countries of the world for a range of reasons, including they see that you build wealth through better access to markets, as well as, you know, choice for consumers through imports. But it is very clear that, you know, the Prime Minister of India had said as a result of higher tariffs placed on them by the US that they want to do a number of things, including accelerate negotiations with other countries. So, we remain optimistic that we can get a high-quality deal that’s good for both India and New Zealand and will level the playing field so that, you know, New Zealand and Australian companies in the Indian market get to, you know, compete fairly. We know that when New Zealand and Australia is able to compete on an equal playing field, one of two things happen. We either both benefit or the consumers get greater choice. And that will be what we’re after in that Indian market.

Farrell: Dom, you’ve had a pretty good run. We might see if anybody else has got some more questions.

Journalist: Yeah, that’s it for me. Thanks, guys.

Journalist: Thank you [Indistinct] in reaction to the attack we saw recently on the UK synagogue.

Farrell: Well, we absolutely condemn the events in Manchester, and we very much commiserate with the loss of life there. There’s no place for antisemitism in Australia, and there’s certainly no place for antisemitism in the United Kingdom. And as a government, we absolutely and unequivocally condemn what’s occurred and expressed our deepest sympathies to the loss of life in the UK.

Journalist: The attack has also sparked conversations here at home about an upcoming pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House. Some of the Opposition suggesting that protests should be banned from sites of such significance to the public as the Opera House. What are the government’s thoughts on that?

Farrell: Look, I’m sure that’s a decision of the New South Wales Government. You know, one of the great attributes of Australia is our ability for free speech. But it’s got to be done in a sensible way. This government condemns the attacks by Hamas almost two years ago now and will continue to condemn those attacks. We want the hostages released. We want peace in the Middle East, and that means peace for, peace and security for Israel, but also peace in Gaza. And that’s the way in which we will prosecute our foreign policy in this area.

McClay: Thank you.

Journalist: Oh, can I just, sorry, can I just do one more, then if that’s all right? Sorry, Don. I just wanted to know whether an agreement is possible, whether Australia is pushing for an agreement to sign when the Prime Minister visits the White House.

Farrell: You’ll have to ask him.

Journalist: Thanks, will do.

Source: Mental Health Australia

Commencing Term 4, Transport for NSW will introduce a new bus service connecting around 120 students to The Nature School in Port Macquarie.

This new service will provide improved access for students by linking to a broad network of existing bus routes that service Port Macquarie, enhancing overall connectivity for families and students.

Each morning and afternoon, a dedicated Nature School bus service will provide a direct 10-minute connection between Major Innes Road and a bus stop located near the school.

The Major Innes Road bus stops are located near Charles Sturt University and St Columba Anglican School, which are well serviced by the bus network.   

Transport for NSW Director Public Transport Network Adrian Dessanti said the new bus service will make daily travel easier and safer for students attending The Nature School. 

“We’ve listened to the local community and are proud to deliver this bus service to better connect students to The Nature School. 

“This new service reflects our commitment to improving access to education through safe, reliable and convenient public transport options for families in regional areas. 

“It has been a collaborative effort between Transport, the bus operator and the school to deliver this much-needed service.”

The Nature School Head of School Catherine Shaw welcomed the new service.

“We are so grateful to have a dedicated school bus service connecting students from The Nature School with bus routes across the area. This is a positive step forward for our school community and also for our neighbours. 

“The service will reduce traffic congestion, ease the burden on parents, and provide a reliable transport option for our students.” 

This service will commence at the start of term four in 2025 on Monday 13 October and be operated by Busways. Students and parents are encouraged to plan their trips in advance using the Trip Planner tool.

For more information visit: New school bus route to benefit The Nature School Port Macquarie students | transportnsw.info

Source: New South Wales – News

Four-year-old Gus Lamont wandered off from the Oak Park Station homestead, approximately 43 kms south of the Yunta township on Saturday, 27 September.

Gus was seen outside at 5pm on Saturday playing on a mound of dirt by his grandmother. At 5.30pm she has gone outside to call him in, only to find him missing.

According to a family member, he is a shy but adventurous child. While a good walker, he has never left the family property previously.

Considerable police resources were committed to the initial search for Gus once we were alerted on Saturday evening. This included a Polair helicopter using infrared technology and initial ground searches around the homestead.

From early Sunday morning resources were increased considerably as the search intensified. This commitment has steadily increased since Sunday.

The search for Gus has been one of the largest, most intensive and most protracted searches ever undertaken by SAPOL.

The determination of every individual involved to find Gus has never wavered.

Like every member of the community who has been following this sad event, they too have been very much affected by what has happened.

They are all mothers, fathers or have young siblings and share the anguish and despair that Gus’ family have been going through since last Saturday night.

On Tuesday night senior police spoke to Gus’ family and prepared them for the fact that Gus may not have survived due to the passage of time, his age and the nature of the terrain he is missing in.

This assessment was based on medical evidence from a doctor who is recognised by the Australian rescue authorities as an expert opinion on time frame for survival.

While those involved in the search have been hoping for a miracle, over the past 48 hours the search has shifted to a recovery operation.

At this point, no trace of Gus has been located. No tangible pieces of evidence, such as footprints, a hat or clothing, have been located to identify any direction of travel to assist searchers.

We are confident that we have done all we can to locate Gus within the search area.

Despite our very best efforts to find Gus we have determined that the search will be scaled back from this afternoon.

The investigation will now be managed by the Missing Persons Investigation Section. This is where all longt erm cases such as this are managed and investigated and is standard practice.

In addition to the search activity there have been concurrent inquiries undertaken as a matter of course when a 4-year-old child goes missing. These inquiries are continuing.

We are investigating and looking to rule out every option at this stage.

SAPOL would like to thank everyone involved in the search for Gus.

The SES volunteers – an average of 30 per day – worked tirelessly and thought nothing of volunteering their time. Likewise, the ADF did not hesitate to provide 50 personnel for two days to assist.

Source: South Australia Police

With a ringside seat to the dramatic increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Western Australia, Elizabeth Newnham, Associate Professor in Population Health at Curtin University, was keen to explore their impact on mental health – particularly for young people experiencing multiple events.

Research indicates that children and adolescents are at significantly higher risk of mental health impacts than adults following natural disasters, with recovery often prolonged and symptoms lasting for months or even years post-event.

Backed by Healthway’s strong commitment to community health and wellbeing, Associate Professor Newnham and her team set out to find an innovative way to build young people’s resilience and social connection. From day one, they made it their mission to put young people at the heart of the project.

Source: South Australia Police

“Before Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation came to Mount Magnet, there was pretty much nothing for our children. Now our kids love to keep active, kick the footy, play around and love eating their fruit. And it’s not just footy they’re learning – it’s how to be a team, how to cooperate. They’re learning how to help each other and lead.” – Cecilia Kelly.

Mount Magnet is the hometown of Badimaya woman Cecilia Kelly, Shire Councillor and proud employee of the Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation (GSAC). GSAC runs programs throughout the Midwest, helping Aboriginal children and young people stay active, connected and healthy.

In Mount Magnet, GSAC’s team run the local youth centre, including pool and footy programs tailored for summer and winter. In the colder months, the kids are at footy training two nights per week, with weekend competitions and excursions to towns like Mullewa and Yalgoo for league matches.

Ms Kelly sees the impact firsthand.

Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

1. Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, met with New Zealand Minister for Trade and Investment, Hon Todd McClay, for the annual Closer Economic Relations Ministerial Meeting in Monarto, South Australia, on 3 October, highlighting the enduring strength of the trans-Tasman trade and economic partnership.
2. Ministers discussed how recent global developments were fueling economic uncertainty and reaffirmed their shared commitment to open markets and the rules-based trading system. They agreed the deep integration of the Australia–New Zealand economic relationship, underpinned by the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER) and the Single Economic Market (SEM), was more important than ever. As export-driven economies, Australia and New Zealand rely on predictable and transparent trade rules to support jobs and innovation as well as supply chain and economic resilience. They committed to working together to build regional economic resilience, including through diversified trade, resilient supply chains, and the promotion of open markets, and rules-based trade.
3. Ministers welcomed coordination on Australia and New Zealand’s respective productivity, growth, and reform agendas. They welcomed the Prime Ministers’ ambition for a new phase of bilateral economic reform collaboration focused on areas of highest impact and committed to advancing SEM initiatives that deliver tangible benefits to businesses and communities on both sides of the Tasman. Ministers expressed their support for the new Heads of Agreement between Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand to strengthen the alignment of standards.
4. Ministers reaffirmed commitments under the Australia New Zealand Government Procurement Agreement, which include a single competitive procurement market and provides a level playing field for Australian and New Zealand suppliers to tender for government contracts.
5. Ministers also discussed continued collaboration to enhance the operation and effectiveness of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (TTMRA) and other efforts to enhance regulatory coherence, services liberalisation and standards alignment – key issues highlighted by business.
6. Ministers agreed to explore options for using Single Economic Market approaches to deepen economic ties across our region and agreed officials should continue to engage on the topic.
7. Ministers discussed their ongoing commitment to strengthen multilateral institutions. They agreed to pursue ambitious reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to improve how the WTO makes decisions, develops new rules, and enforces those rules. They agreed to deepen joint cooperation in this space, including in preparation for the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14). As part of this, the Ministers reaffirmed their intention to enhance engagement with regional partners, particularly ASEAN countries, to support WTO reform efforts. Ministers also reaffirmed their support for restoring a fully functioning WTO dispute settlement system, as well as broadening participation in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) to ensure the enforceability of trade rules.
8. As leading members of the Cairns Group, Ministers also discussed the importance of continued advocacy for an open and equitable global agricultural trading system. They welcomed the entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and committed to continue negotiations to conclude additional provisions on subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. They also discussed the importance of digital trade and e-commerce, and the need to ensure these frameworks support micro, small and medium enterprises. Underpinning this, Ministers reaffirmed their support for the extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions at MC14, and the ultimate goal of a permanent moratorium. Ministers also welcomed the conclusion of the plurilateral WTO Agreement on Electronic Commence and reaffirmed their commitment to its incorporation into the WTO framework. Ministers agreed on the importance of innovative and inclusive plurilateral agreements as a pathway for WTO rulemaking and to ensuring the WTO keeps pace with modern trade.
9. Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to high-standard, inclusive regional trade. They welcomed the opportunity to share perspectives on regional trade architectures and agendas, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Minister Farrell looked forward to welcoming Minister McClay and other CPTPP Ministers to Melbourne in November for the 9th CPTPP Commission Meeting. Ministers celebrated entry into force this year of the upgraded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). Ministers also reaffirmed their joint commitment to implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA). Ministers noted the importance of PACER Plus and reaffirmed their desire to see all Forum Island Countries join PACER Plus.
10. Ministers acknowledged the importance of trade and investment to the net zero transition. They agreed Australia and New Zealand should continue to collaborate closely to support innovative approaches to effectively address the challenges of transitioning to net-zero emissions while maximising the economic and environmental benefits of the transition for both countries and for our region.
11. Ministers acknowledged the value of ongoing engagement with the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF), including at its recent Forum event in Canberra in September. They expressed appreciation for the ANZLF’s facilitation of discussion between business and government. Ministers welcomed and valued the role of business in informing dialogue on policy ideas and shaping practical SEM outcomes, and looked forward to receiving the ANZLF’s recommendations to both Governments.
12. In closing, Ministers reaffirmed their shared vision for a resilient, integrated, and forward-looking trans-Tasman economic relationship, and committed to working together to navigate global challenges and seize emerging opportunities.

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Investigation into damage at Wybalenna, Flinders Island

Friday, 3 October 2025 – 1:24 pm.

Police have identified three men from Launceston as being persons of interest in the vandalism of a site on Flinders Island which holds heritage and cultural significance for Tasmania’s Aboriginal community.
Investigations into damage at Wybalenna sacred site, on the western side of Flinders Island, are continuing following the initial report earlier this week.
While there have been no charges yet laid in relation to the damage, three Launceston men, aged 26, 28, and 31, will be proceeded against by summons for the theft of firewood from the site.
Tasmania Police Inspector Luke Manhood said the damage at Wybalenna involved a vehicle, or vehicles, being driven on the site in a series of skids and ‘donuts’, which ripped up the ground.
“This behaviour is extremely disappointing and has certainly caused distress for the local community,” Inspector Manhood said.
Wybalenna was the site of an Aboriginal settlement during colonial Tasmania and is known to have been a large Aboriginal burial ground.
Anyone with information about the damage can contact police on 131 444 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au

Source: Airservices Australia

Introduction

Good afternoon, and welcome to Sydney. It’s a pleasure to host this important dialogue between the CPMI and industry leaders at a time of rapid change in the payments landscape. There is an ever-increasing demand from end users to make payments safer, more efficient, seamless, and capable of integrating into other processes. Technological innovation provides significant opportunities to meet these needs. At the same time, fraud, scams, and cyber threats continue to evolve, giving rise to new challenges to the safety and stability of payment systems. There has never been a more important time to discuss these issues.

Today I would like to share some perspectives for the Asia-Pacific region on some of the key opportunities and challenges, particularly in relation to cross-border payments, the emergence of new forms of digital money, and the resilience of the payments system.

Enhancing cross-border payments in the Asia-Pacific

Businesses and households need efficient, competitive and safe ways to send and receive money across borders. But despite rapid growth in international commerce, cross-border payments services remain expensive, slow and opaque relative to domestic payments. This is of course a global problem, but the strong financial relationships and vast flows of trade and people within the Asia-Pacific region mean that there are substantial gains to be unlocked by enhancing cross-border payments in our region.

Australia is committed to making cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent and more accessible under the G20 Roadmap. We and other regulators have been working together with the Australian payments industry to improve cross-border payment outcomes through a few key initiatives to boost transparency and uplift domestic payments infrastructure.

Australia has made good progress on transparency in recent years through industry adherence to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) Best Practice Guidance on how international money transfer providers should display information to consumers. This, together with greater competition from non-bank providers, has helped to push down costs for international money transfers in recent years. In 2024 the ACCC published revised guidance which should help make it simpler for consumers to compare providers’ price and speed offerings.

A priority for the RBA has been engaging with industry over the adoption of richer data and new capabilities for Australia’s cross-border payments infrastructure. There are two key initiatives with the potential to shift the dial here.

The first is the adoption of the CPMI’s internationally harmonised payments messaging requirements based on the ISO 20022 messaging standard. As you know, global use of richer harmonised messaging will reduce the need for manual intervention, which should in turn lower costs and speed up cross-border payments. The RBA has set an expectation that the relevant Australian payment systems adopt these requirements by the global timeline of end-2027. We are tracking the industry’s progress towards this goal through regular surveys and ongoing engagements, and reporting this information to our Payments System Board.

Another way to leverage domestic fast payments systems to enable more seamless cross-border payments is to link those systems up. The RBA has collaborated with industry participants on an exploratory analytical study about the benefits, design considerations and challenges involved. We are also monitoring the advancement of interlinking initiatives closely. Some countries in the Asia-Pacific region have established bilateral connections between their fast payment systems. And several ASEAN countries and India recently launched a multilateral scheme, Nexus Global Payments, to standardise the way that fast payment systems connect to each other.

Enabling access to cost-effective remittances for the South Pacific countries remains a high priority for Australia, as many families in the region rely on remittances as a key source of income. But remittances to our South Pacific neighbours tend to be slow and costly, in part due to a lack of transparency and competition between providers. To facilitate greater transparency, the Australian Government has supported the development of the Send Money Pacific website which allows people to compare providers’ prices and the speed of services to send money to 11 countries in the region.

More broadly, South Pacific countries currently face considerable challenges maintaining access to correspondent banking relationships. A key concern for correspondent banks is the substantial costs involved in providing these services, including complying with regulatory requirements to detect and prevent financial crime. Australian authorities have been supporting Pacific countries in the region with a range of regulatory and banking initiatives, including working together with Australian banks to ensure the ongoing provision of retail banking services in South Pacific countries.

Potential for new forms of digital currencies to boost efficiency of cross-border payments and financial markets

Technological advances are not only improving existing payment processes, they are also enabling the emergence of new forms of digital money.

Central banks across the world are at various stages of exploring the potential role of digital currencies, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), in the financial and payments system. The RBA and other Asian central banks have led or participated in cross-country initiatives involving the use of CBDCs. One such initiative was Project Dunbar, led by the BIS Innovation Hub, which explored using CBDCs from multiple countries to facilitate cross-border payments.

Many jurisdictions have also considered the potential use of CBDCs to support financial market transactions. The RBA, for example, is exploring the role of different forms of digital money in domestic wholesale tokenised asset markets through Project Acacia. The learnings will help the RBA to understand the role it can play in supporting the development of tokenised asset markets in Australia. For example, whether there is a role for wholesale CBDC to support settlement, or whether enhancements to existing payments infrastructure are required.

At the same time as CBDC research has been progressing, stablecoins are also gaining prominence. Globally, issuance has so far been dominated by US dollar-denominated coins, but stablecoins linked to Asia-Pacific currencies are also growing. While their origins lie in crypto-asset trading, their potential applications now extend well beyond that space. For example, there has been interest from retailers such as US Amazon for customer payments. And stablecoins are now being used in some jurisdictions for people to get exposure to US dollars without having to hold a US dollar bank account or physical currency. In other words, stablecoins are presenting opportunities in the payments and monetary system.

But stablecoins also present risks. If they are not fully backed by high-quality liquid assets, stablecoins can expose holders to losses. An example is the 2022 collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which used an algorithm rather than high-quality liquid assets to maintain its value. Addressing the risk of fraud and financial crime is also challenging because of the speed, complexity, opacity and the global nature of the distributed ledger platforms used for stablecoins. Depending on how large the market becomes, there might also be implications for financial stability. The potential impacts on commercial banks and the markets for backing assets, particularly in times of stress, are complex issues that require careful consideration. For some jurisdictions, rising use of foreign currency denominated stablecoins may also raise concerns about the sovereignty of domestic currencies. Large scale currency substitution could be problematic because the interest rates over which a central bank has influence would become less relevant.

So how do we reap the benefits of stablecoins while managing these risks? It will require careful regulation that doesn’t stifle innovation but addresses the risks. Some Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, such as Japan and Singapore, were among the first to develop, and in Japan’s case implement, regulatory frameworks, providing clarity on the role of stablecoins in their financial and payments landscapes. Australia, like several other jurisdictions, is currently progressing its regulatory framework for stablecoins. As these new frameworks develop, there is an emerging question for us, as a global community, around how we drive consistency across regimes. Minimising opportunities for regulatory arbitrage will be important for managing risk and for promoting confidence in stablecoins as a monetary innovation.

Heightened focus on resilience and safety in the payments system

In a recent speech the RBA’s Assistant Governor Brad Jones spoke about the need to uplift resiliency in the payments system, while balancing and enhancing the capability to innovate.

In this rapidly evolving landscape, the resilience and safety of our payments system is critical. Both well-established and emerging payment systems depend on complex technology and infrastructure and, often, on a small number of third-party providers. This concentration risk, combined with heightened geopolitical tensions, underscores the need for robust contingency planning. The RBA is working with banks and payment providers to ensure essential transactions can continue even in the face of severe disruption. Interoperability between systems is critical – not only does it give consumers choice in normal times, but it provides fallback options when systems fail. Likewise, managing third-party risk is no longer optional; it is central to maintaining trust in the system. Our goal is to create a payments system that not only withstands disruptions but grows stronger because of them – learning from each challenge to implement measures that continuously enhance resilience.

At the same time, safety remains a top priority. Fraud and scams are a pressing concern around the world. Australians lost around $2 billion to scams last year, down from $2.7 billion in 2023 – a significant improvement, but still far too high. This progress reflects combined efforts of industry, government and the National Anti-Scam Centre, to boost community awareness, share scam data and disrupt specific scam types. Industry measures such as stronger customer alerts and putting higher-risk payments temporarily on hold are also having a positive effect. These steps introduce frictions to the system. But they help to protect consumers and maintain trust in digital payments, which is crucial to fully realise the benefits of our payment systems. Again, we need to balance benefits and costs of fast, efficient payment systems.

One area of promise is the rollout of ‘Confirmation of Payee’ functionality. This feature enables payers to verify that the name of the recipient matches their expectation before funds are transferred, which is important for preventing mistaken payments and reducing the incidence of scams. In Australia this functionality was already in place for NPP payments made using the PayID service, which allows payments to be addressed to an account alias such as a mobile phone number or email address. It is now also being extended to payments addressed to account numbers. At the international level, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures has also prioritised this issue, recognising the complexities introduced by cross-border transactions.

Throughout all this, we must remain mindful of balance. Enhancing resilience and safety is essential, but we also need to support efficiency and innovation. Our objectives as regulators of payment systems are to promote safety, efficiency, and competition. These objectives are not mutually exclusive. By embedding resilience and safety into the design of our systems, we endeavour to achieve all three.

Conclusion

The world of payments is changing rapidly, and the opportunities and challenges we’re seeing in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific are not unique. They are mirrored around the world. Whether it’s improving cross-border payments, exploring new forms of digital money, or strengthening system resilience, these are global conversations.

The Bank is committed to continuing to work closely with other central banks, regulators, and the industry to shape the future of money and payments. By working together, we can build payment systems that are safer, more efficient, and future ready.

Thank you.