News and politics live updates: Anthony Albanese confirms gambling reforms to hit Parliament this week

Anthony Albanese says he’s confident that gambling legislation will be introduced later this week following negotiations with the Greens and Coalition this afternoon.

Addressing caucus on Monday, the PM said he expected “bipartisan support” for the gambling bill despite pressure to go further from the Coalition, Greens and crossbench.

It comes as the PM spoke with Angus Taylor on Monday morning, while Communications Minister Anika Wells summoned Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young for a meeting this afternoon.

“This will be the strongest anti-gambling legislation that Australia has ever seen,” he claimed.

“Building on the previous ones, which were also by our government making those changes through, and I’m confident that later in the week we’ll have the legislation in the House of Representatives with some really practical amendments dealing with the targeting of advertising, dealing with reducing children’s exposure, and dealing with as well the full suite of measures in a really practical way.

“I think with bipartisan support about inducements and making sure that those issues are dealt with in a constructive way, making sure that we get the balance right between people who want to go along and have a punt on a Saturday at the races, but also that problem gambling is actually dealt with.”

Inducements include promotional incentives such as bonus bets, deposit matches, refund offers, and boosted odds as a way to attract new customers and encourage more frequent betting.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said “unchecked atificial inteligence” presented a “material risk to the way society operates” and says we are at a “fork in the road”.

The inquiry will investigate how South Australia can maximise the benefits of AI while minimising potential harms and unintended consequences.

The royal commission is expected to begin in October and deliver its findings by the middle of next year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will outline Australia’s approach to managing AI growth and data centre expansion at the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

Following his push for Australia’s under-16s social media ban at last year’s assembly, Mr Albanese confirmed his upcoming strategy during a Canberra caucus meeting on Monday.

Reiterating his goal, Mr Albanese said Australia plans to “lead the world” on global AI standards, building on its existing technology policies.

“The speech that I gave about setting up Australian standards for AI (at University of Sydney last month)... when I go to the United Nations in September next month, we’ll build on that to lead the world.

“Just like we have led the world in our social media policies as well going forward.”

The meeting comes just before parliament resumes from winter recess on Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese has sought to justify last month’s tightly controlled Labor conference in Adelaide describing it as a moment of unity and discipline rather than a stage‑managed talkfest.

Speaking to caucus in Canberra, the Prime Minister hailed the three‑day gathering as a “fantastic moment” for the Labor movement.

“What it was defined by, I think, was the unity of purpose. Of course, it was the culmination of a whole process,” he said.

“It used to be when I first started going to those conferences, people would come along with a pen and paper and write out things on the spur with 99 delegates.

“Now, we have the 60 members of the committee that do the work.

Meetings in Sydney and Melbourne, a lot of the policy work done up, making sure that we get the detail right.

“But right across the board, I think as a result of that conference, we have ways to move forward.”

Transport Minister Catherine King has commended air traffic controllers for their efforts to stop crashes at Sydney airport after a disruptive weekend.

Speaking in Canberra on Monday, Ms King said it was a “complex job” and there had been staffing issues but also conceded that what had occurred was “unacceptable for passengers”.

“I think the first thing to say is that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will undertake their independent investigation into both of those incidents that have occurred,” she said.

“These two instances are very serious incidents because they’ve involved the close proximity of aircraft, which is not something anybody wants to see.

“We want to make sure that we’ve got as much support as possible to do that for a complex job.

“The ATSB needs to be allowed to do its investigation.

“Air services will cooperate fully with that investigation if there are any issues.”

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has addressed Labor MPs ahead of the return of Parliament on Tuesday, saying he expects legislation overhauling the National Disability Insurance Scheme to pass in the next fortnight.

“I met earlier today with the leader of the opposition as well, to work through NDIS, and I expect those changes will pass in this sitting fortnight, which will be important to make sure that it’s sustainable going forward”.

The PM said the government was also “making sure that we get the balance right” on new gambling changes, to allow people to “have a punt on a Saturday at the races”, but also deal with problems.

Mr Albanese also told Labor’s caucus that he will attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September to discuss topics such as AI.

A senior female minister in the Albanese government has acknowledged “challenges” in the party after a WA Labor candidate’s past comments about sexual harassment in the party recently surfaced.

Georgia Tree, who is running for Labor in a by-election for the state seat of Secret Harbour, warned in 2021 that the party had “skeletons” in the closet covered-up problems like the Catholic church had done with abuse.

Asked about the comments, Federal Transport Minister Catherine King acknowledged that her party and parliament have had to grapple with sexual harrrassment.

“I’ve been a member of the Australian Labor Party since I was 24, and I’ve been a member of Parliament for over 25 years now. I think there, of course, in any workplace, there are challenges that we all deal with.”

“We’ve had a really significant inquiry initiated by this government, frankly, to make sure that people are safe in workplaces,” she told reporters.

“That’s the initiatives we’ve put in place, and I feel very comfortable in this workplace as something that I work in and my staff work in as well.”

LATIKA M BOURKE: An adviser to former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have used his own melon before he participated in a crude jibe about the melons that were given to him by Japan’s first woman leader.

Sanae Takaichi, a protege of Mr Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, made history when she overcame Japan’s male-dominated political culture to become the country’s first woman prime minister last October.

Earlier this year, she visited Mr Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra to build on the bilateral relationship. As is customary, she came bearing a gift for her host. She gave Mr Albanese two Crown Melons, which are highly prized and a luxury item in her country.

In last month’s appearance on the Bush Deep podcast, in which he said he would shag Kylie Minogue and talked about having to schedule sex with his new wife Jodie Haydon after watching their team the Rabbitohs play rugby league, Mr Albanese raised Ms Takaichi’s gift of fruit when asked to name the “most crap gift” he’s received.

Read the full exclusive from Latika M Bourke here.

A Liberal Party lobbyist named in an anti-corruption probe ensnaring the highest echelons of the NSW branch has been “suspended” from the party, as the explosive inquiry enters its third week.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is holding public hearings into allegations a secretive conservative Christian group within the state branch of the Liberal Party accepted prohibited donations, including from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and hotelier Michael O’Hara, to bolster conservative ranks within party branches.

The inquiry has been told funds from Mr O’Hara were managed through fake invoices through consulting firm Beckington, established by Reformers associate Jeremy Greenwood alongside co-accused Christian Ellis.

Mr Greenwood attended school with former premier Dominic Perrottet – who has not been accused of any wrongdoing – and his brothers Charles and Jean-Claude. Both Charles and Jean-Claude Perrottet are named in the ICAC investigation.

Read the full story here.

Westpac has blamed Reserve Bank interest rate hikes instead of just Budget tax changes on investment properties for plunging mortgage applications, with first-home buyer activity remaining unchanged despite a housing market downturn.

Nathan Goonan, the Westpac Bank’s chief financial officer, has revealed an 18 per cent plunge in owner-occupier mortgage applications and a corresponding 26 per cent slump in investor loan applications since the May Budget, delivered a week after the third rate hike this year.

“I guess we’d probably draw some conclusion from that that the rate impact is probably equal or potentially a bigger impact than anything that happened in the Budget,” he told analysts on Monday in a conference call.

“You’ve got a mortgage market that has got a period of real dislocation whether it be through the Budget changes and then through rates.”

Overall mortgage applications had fallen by 20 per cent since the May 12 Budget, with loan applications 11 per cent below the five-year average, with a mortgage slowdown also expected in the September quarter.

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