Source:
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) will hold a public hearing for its inquiry into the Agreement between Australia and the Kingdom of Spain for the Mutual Protection of Classified Information of Defence Interest at 11.20am on 22 June 2026.
Source:
The Joint Standing Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme will hear from representatives of the Department of Social Services at a public hearing in Canberra on Thursday, 25 June 2026, as part of its inquiry into the continuing operation of the Scheme.
Source:
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport will hold a roundtable hearing with councils from the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia this week as part of its inquiry into local government funding.
Source: Tasmania Police
Police charge rider following Penguin crash
Wednesday, 24 June 2026 – 9:44 am.
A 27-year-old Spreyton man has been charged following a single motorcycle crash at Penguin in May.
Police were called to the incident about 3.50pm on Monday, 18 May, after a motorcycle crashed on a train line at Penguin Road, Penguin.
Officers attended and located the rider at the scene. Investigations established the man was unlicensed and the motorcycle was unregistered.
The rider was taken into custody for the purpose of a blood test. Subsequent analysis returned a reading of 0.310, more than six times the legal limit.
The man was arrested on warrant yesterday, and charged with exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit, driving while not the holder of a licence and using an unregistered motor vehicle.
He was bailed to appear in court at a later date and issued a Road Safety Disqualification Notice for a period of 24 months.
Inspector Adam Spencer said the incident highlighted a number of serious risks to the community.
“This was a serious incident where a rider made a number of dangerous and unlawful decisions before getting on the road,” Inspector Spencer said.
“The man returned a blood alcohol reading more than six times the legal limit, placing not only himself at significant risk but also anyone else who could have been in the area.”
“Driving while unlicensed, in an unregistered vehicle, demonstrates a complete disregard for road safety laws.”
“It’s fortunate this crash did not result in more serious consequences.”
“Police will continue to hold motorists to account, and we remind all road users that alcohol and riding or driving simply do not mix.”
Source: Tasmania Police
Man charged over Tynwald Park oval damage and other offences
Wednesday, 24 June 2026 – 9:25 am.
A 20-year-old Bridgewater man has been charged with a raft of offences, including causing damage to Tynwald Park oval in New Norfolk over the weekend.
The man was arrested in Gagebrook yesterday, following inquiries made by detectives from Bridgewater CIB.
He was safely taken into custody with the assistance of specialist resources and was remanded to appear in court today.
Police will allege the man is responsible for a range of burglaries and motor vehicle stealings committed in the Bridgewater, Glenorchy, and broader southeast areas of Tasmania.
Among other offences, he has been charged with:
23 counts of breach of bail conditions
1 count of aggravated burglary
4 counts of burglary
6 counts of stealing
3 counts of motor vehicle stealing
1 count of attempted motor vehicle stealing
1 count of destroy property
3 counts of operate vehicle in public place in an unnecessary execution of speed, acceleration or loss of traction
2 counts of evade police (aggravated circumstances)
Source: Prime Minister of Australia
One week to go: Bundle of joy for new parents as paid parental leave expands to 6 months
In one week, the Albanese Labor Government will deliver a major expansion of Paid Parental Leave, helping new parents spend more time at home with their newest family member.
From 1 July eligible families will be able to access up to 26 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, backed by the Government.
Thanks to Labor’s changes, families accessing the full entitlement will receive almost $30,000 across their Paid Parental Leave.
This is more than double the entitlement available to families before Labor came to government.
The changes that come into effect on 1 July mean:
Since the expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme began, parents of more than 460,000 children have already benefited.
From 1 July, 2.6 million Australians will also benefit when a range of social security payments, thresholds and limits increase.
At a time when global uncertainty has placed pressure on households, these changes will deliver more money in the bank and help many cover the cost of essentials.
Over 1.2 million families with children will receive a boost to their Family Tax Benefit payment to help them with the cost of raising their children.
The maximum rate for Family Tax Benefit Part A will increase to $235.48 per fortnight for each child aged under 13, and to $306.46 per fortnight for each child aged 13 and over.
For Family Tax Benefit Part B, the maximum rate will rise to $200.34 per fortnight for families with a youngest child under five, and to $139.86 per fortnight for families whose youngest child is aged five or older.
Income and assets thresholds will increase for a range of recipients, including pensioners and Parenting Payment Single recipients. This means recipients will be able to have higher levels of income and assets before their payments are affected.
More information on new payment rates and thresholds is available on the Department of Social Services website.
“The first months with a new baby are precious. My Government is making it easier for parents to spend that time together.
“That’s why we’re expanding Paid Parental Leave again from 1 July, giving parents more time at home with their newborn and more support when they need it most.
“It was Labor that created Paid Parental Leave, and it’s Labor that’s continuing to strengthen it for Australian families.
“This is good for business, good for families and good for our economy.”
“The Albanese Government has consistently put Australian women at the heart of our priorities, and from July 1 they will be even better off.
“By expanding Paid Parental Leave we are making the scheme stronger, fairer and better suited to the way modern families share care.
“These changes give parents more time, more flexibility and more financial security, while helping make caring responsibilities more equal between women and men.”
“Labor’s changes to Paid Parental Leave mean working parents get more time off and more money when they welcome a new arrival into their family.
“It was a Labor Government that introduced Paid Parental Leave in this country, and now it’s the Albanese Labor Government expanding it to six months of leave.
“Labor will keep delivering real change that helps Australian families.”
Source: Prime Minister of Australia
One week to go: Bundle of joy for new parents as paid parental leave expands to 6 months
In one week, the Albanese Labor Government will deliver a major expansion of Paid Parental Leave, helping new parents spend more time at home with their newest family member.
From 1 July eligible families will be able to access up to 26 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, backed by the Government.
Thanks to Labor’s changes, families accessing the full entitlement will receive almost $30,000 across their Paid Parental Leave.
This is more than double the entitlement available to families before Labor came to government.
The changes that come into effect on 1 July mean:
Since the expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme began, parents of more than 460,000 children have already benefited.
From 1 July, 2.6 million Australians will also benefit when a range of social security payments, thresholds and limits increase.
At a time when global uncertainty has placed pressure on households, these changes will deliver more money in the bank and help many cover the cost of essentials.
Over 1.2 million families with children will receive a boost to their Family Tax Benefit payment to help them with the cost of raising their children.
The maximum rate for Family Tax Benefit Part A will increase to $235.48 per fortnight for each child aged under 13, and to $306.46 per fortnight for each child aged 13 and over.
For Family Tax Benefit Part B, the maximum rate will rise to $200.34 per fortnight for families with a youngest child under five, and to $139.86 per fortnight for families whose youngest child is aged five or older.
Income and assets thresholds will increase for a range of recipients, including pensioners and Parenting Payment Single recipients. This means recipients will be able to have higher levels of income and assets before their payments are affected.
More information on new payment rates and thresholds is available on the Department of Social Services website.
“The first months with a new baby are precious. My Government is making it easier for parents to spend that time together.
“That’s why we’re expanding Paid Parental Leave again from 1 July, giving parents more time at home with their newborn and more support when they need it most.
“It was Labor that created Paid Parental Leave, and it’s Labor that’s continuing to strengthen it for Australian families.
“This is good for business, good for families and good for our economy.”
“The Albanese Government has consistently put Australian women at the heart of our priorities, and from July 1 they will be even better off.
“By expanding Paid Parental Leave we are making the scheme stronger, fairer and better suited to the way modern families share care.
“These changes give parents more time, more flexibility and more financial security, while helping make caring responsibilities more equal between women and men.”
“Labor’s changes to Paid Parental Leave mean working parents get more time off and more money when they welcome a new arrival into their family.
“It was a Labor Government that introduced Paid Parental Leave in this country, and now it’s the Albanese Labor Government expanding it to six months of leave.
“Labor will keep delivering real change that helps Australian families.”
Source: Prime Minister of Australia
begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
I also acknowledge Her Excellency the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn; Australian Defence Force leaders; Australian War Memorial Chair Kim Beazley; Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson; and my colleagues from across the Parliament.
I extend my respects to all serving Defence members and all veterans here today. You honour us with your presence.
Each year, we begin the Parliamentary year with the Last Post ceremony.
From across the Parliament and across the political spectrum, we join here in solemn remembrance of generations of Australian sacrifice.
We join in gratitude for the difference Australians in uniform have made in the world when it was so desperately needed.
We reflect on the courage and strength of character that, for decades, has defined those who have served in our name.
And, bonded by the power of Lest we forget – that most unadorned of sentences that dwells within us like a heartbeat – we vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow reaches future generations.
Today we adjourned the Parliament so that everyone who wished to could come mark the opening of this Atrium and Anzac Hall, an addition to the Australian War Memorial that makes that flame burns so much brighter.
What a sublime and powerful addition it is. A bold vision turned into a reality that enhances the institution of which it is now part.
It amounts to an act of profound respect from the nation to all who have served in our name, and all who serve now.
The fighters for peace, the keepers of peace.
It honours all who went and all who fell. It honours those who came home, including the many whose hearts never knew peace again.
It is an act of remembrance that also acknowledges that while our troops are supported, not every conflict has been – and that, too, is part of our hard-won freedom.
So much here is on a profoundly human scale.
From the fluffy dice that Captain Lukas Wilds took from his V12 Monaro and carried with him to Afghanistan, to every window on G for George, each one an invitation to imagine the face on the other side as they flew against the odds, ever deeper into enemy skies.
Amid the array of artefacts, read all the words. Listen to the voices.
Look at the faces and get lost amid the smiles, the hope and camaraderie – the counterpoint to war’s relentless, inhuman arithmetic. They are its true cost.
Yet, amid this loss and sacrifice, what pulses so powerfully is life, and an abiding sense of what is worth fighting for. As Australians. As human beings.
It pulses with the hope that drives every peacekeeping mission.
And it pulses with love – along, inevitably, with the grief that is love in the face of the final absence.
I’d like to quote from one letter displayed here. It was written by Hilda Barnes on the 30th of June 1945, about her son Pilot Officer Keith Osmond Barnes, reported missing over Germany in January 1944.
It is a reminder of the forms that hope can take. And I quote:
“… we are still hoping he may be found in hospital somewhere … he may have lost his memory or even disfigured by burns.
“I am enclosing a photo of him. I thought it might help if he has lost his memory. You will have an idea of what he looks like. He was 20 years and 10 months of age at his presumed death.”
Then the following line:
“He is our baby.”
Next week it will be 81 years since Hilda Barnes wrote that letter. Here in this place of memory, her words call to us still – as does the face of the son she longed for in vain.
Along with so many others, generation after generation.
When the Australian War Memorial opened during World War II, nearly a year before G for George was delivered to No. 460 Squadron, Prime Minister Curtin said it would bring our nation closer to the meaning of Australian courage, sacrifice and faith.
Even as we move further away in years, the Atrium and Anzac Hall bring us even closer.
And as they do, that heartbeat within us grows louder.
Lest we forget.
Source: Prime Minister of Australia
begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
I also acknowledge Her Excellency the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn; Australian Defence Force leaders; Australian War Memorial Chair Kim Beazley; Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson; and my colleagues from across the Parliament.
I extend my respects to all serving Defence members and all veterans here today. You honour us with your presence.
Each year, we begin the Parliamentary year with the Last Post ceremony.
From across the Parliament and across the political spectrum, we join here in solemn remembrance of generations of Australian sacrifice.
We join in gratitude for the difference Australians in uniform have made in the world when it was so desperately needed.
We reflect on the courage and strength of character that, for decades, has defined those who have served in our name.
And, bonded by the power of Lest we forget – that most unadorned of sentences that dwells within us like a heartbeat – we vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow reaches future generations.
Today we adjourned the Parliament so that everyone who wished to could come mark the opening of this Atrium and Anzac Hall, an addition to the Australian War Memorial that makes that flame burns so much brighter.
What a sublime and powerful addition it is. A bold vision turned into a reality that enhances the institution of which it is now part.
It amounts to an act of profound respect from the nation to all who have served in our name, and all who serve now.
The fighters for peace, the keepers of peace.
It honours all who went and all who fell. It honours those who came home, including the many whose hearts never knew peace again.
It is an act of remembrance that also acknowledges that while our troops are supported, not every conflict has been – and that, too, is part of our hard-won freedom.
So much here is on a profoundly human scale.
From the fluffy dice that Captain Lukas Wilds took from his V12 Monaro and carried with him to Afghanistan, to every window on G for George, each one an invitation to imagine the face on the other side as they flew against the odds, ever deeper into enemy skies.
Amid the array of artefacts, read all the words. Listen to the voices.
Look at the faces and get lost amid the smiles, the hope and camaraderie – the counterpoint to war’s relentless, inhuman arithmetic. They are its true cost.
Yet, amid this loss and sacrifice, what pulses so powerfully is life, and an abiding sense of what is worth fighting for. As Australians. As human beings.
It pulses with the hope that drives every peacekeeping mission.
And it pulses with love – along, inevitably, with the grief that is love in the face of the final absence.
I’d like to quote from one letter displayed here. It was written by Hilda Barnes on the 30th of June 1945, about her son Pilot Officer Keith Osmond Barnes, reported missing over Germany in January 1944.
It is a reminder of the forms that hope can take. And I quote:
“… we are still hoping he may be found in hospital somewhere … he may have lost his memory or even disfigured by burns.
“I am enclosing a photo of him. I thought it might help if he has lost his memory. You will have an idea of what he looks like. He was 20 years and 10 months of age at his presumed death.”
Then the following line:
“He is our baby.”
Next week it will be 81 years since Hilda Barnes wrote that letter. Here in this place of memory, her words call to us still – as does the face of the son she longed for in vain.
Along with so many others, generation after generation.
When the Australian War Memorial opened during World War II, nearly a year before G for George was delivered to No. 460 Squadron, Prime Minister Curtin said it would bring our nation closer to the meaning of Australian courage, sacrifice and faith.
Even as we move further away in years, the Atrium and Anzac Hall bring us even closer.
And as they do, that heartbeat within us grows louder.
Lest we forget.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Northern Territory Police have charged a 31-year-old man with escaping from lawful custody after he allegedly escaped from custody overnight.
Just after midnight, Corrections reported to Police that the man, who is currently serving a custodial sentence and is a known associate of the Mongol Mob outlaw motorcycle gang, had escaped from custody at Royal Darwin Hospital.
Police responded immediately and, with the assistance of Dog Operations Unit and Casuarina Police Station, located the man on Trower Road.
He was arrested and returned to Royal Darwin Hospital before being handed back into Corrections custody.
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Tim Healey said this was an excellent result by attending members.
“Police received the report and, within eight minutes, located and re-arrested the man.