Marles announces $1.7bn purchase of Ghost Shark drone subs
Defence minister Richard Marles just announced a $1.7bn effort to buy a new fleet of autonomous undersea vehicles called Ghost Sharks for the Royal Australian Navy.
The navy has signed a contract with Anduril Australia to deliver, maintain and develop the Ghost Shark over the next five years, a program “designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, stealthily and at long range”.
The Ghost Sharks will be manufactured in Australia,
Marles just told reporters at a press conference:
It exemplifies the fact that Australia is leading the world in terms of autonomous underwater military capabilities. A Ghost Shark is capable of engaging in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike. This is a profoundly important capability for the Royal Australian Navy.
This is the leading capability in the world in terms of a long-range autonomous underwater capability.
Much of what we need to do in terms of meeting the strategic moment and meeting the strategic challenge our nation faces, is having a highly capable navy in all its forms.
Key events
Marles says Australia will get ‘dozens’ of Ghost Sharks
The defense minister said Australia would get “dozens” of Ghost Sharks under the deal, but wouldn’t put a specific number on the underwater drones:
We do not want to point out the precise number, but dozens of these units will be built in the first tranche of this program.
Marles announces $1.7bn purchase of Ghost Shark drone subs
Defence minister Richard Marles just announced a $1.7bn effort to buy a new fleet of autonomous undersea vehicles called Ghost Sharks for the Royal Australian Navy.
The navy has signed a contract with Anduril Australia to deliver, maintain and develop the Ghost Shark over the next five years, a program “designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, stealthily and at long range”.
The Ghost Sharks will be manufactured in Australia,
Marles just told reporters at a press conference:
It exemplifies the fact that Australia is leading the world in terms of autonomous underwater military capabilities. A Ghost Shark is capable of engaging in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike. This is a profoundly important capability for the Royal Australian Navy.
This is the leading capability in the world in terms of a long-range autonomous underwater capability.
Much of what we need to do in terms of meeting the strategic moment and meeting the strategic challenge our nation faces, is having a highly capable navy in all its forms.
Papworth says police will deal with any violent offenders ‘swiftly’
Papworth went on:
Anyone who is looking to come to the city with intention of committing violence on our streets can expect to be swiftly dealt with by Victoria police, arrested and may potentially spend time in a jail cell if that’s appropriate. We would ask anyone coming into the city to protest on the weekend to come in lawfully and peacefully.
We will expect to see some friction in between groups and we do expect to see groups with opposing ideologies coming together, we’ve got intelligence has suggested they are intent on trying to come together.
Neo-Nazis may take to Melbourne streets again this weekend, police warn
Benita Kolovos
Victorian superintendent Troy Papworth has warned neo-Nazis may again take to the streets of Melbourne on Saturday, triggering another huge police response.
Speaking at a press conference at police headquarters, Papworth told reporters that police intelligence indicated four separate protests were planned on Saturday, with the possibility for each group to confront one another.
He said:
These protests have a mixture of extremist right wing ideology and left wing and opposing views, and due to the violence that we saw on the streets of Melbourne two weeks ago, and our intelligence pointing towards these groups again [being] intent on coming together and clashing, police have had no choice but to put together a significant police response to make sure that we’re protecting community safety and keeping these groups apart.
Papworth says the four protests were organised by umbrella groups Save Australia, Australia Unites Against Government Corruption, the Black Peoples Union and the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism as well as “other left wing aligned issue motivated groups”.
He says the National Socialist Network may also be involved:
We can’t discount the fact that, like we saw two weeks ago, that the National Socialist Network will be attending these protests and speaking.
Night parrot listed as critically endangered as animals and plants added to threatened list
Lisa Cox
The night parrot, the narrow dwarf crayfish and the millmerran mint bush are among more than a dozen species to be newly added to or given a more urgent conservation status on Australia’s threatened species list.
The elusive night parrot has been upgraded from endangered to critically endangered, while 18 other species, including eight types of crayfish, the Mallee worm-lizard and several plants, were listed for the first time as either endangered or critically endangered.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the changes showed the night parrot was moving closer to extinction and that climate change was a large and growing threat to nature that must be addressed in the government’s plan overhaul of Australia’s environment laws.
The organisation’s acting chief executive, Paul Sinclair, said “climate change is a threat to every single one of these species”:
If we want our reformed nature law to be fit for the 21st century, it needs to protect matters of national environmental significance from climate harm.
Risk of thunderstorms ‘extensive’ across NSW today
The Bureau of Meteorology said it’s a “good day” to stay up-to-date with weather alerts after saying the risk of thunderstorms is extensive across NSW.
The agency said storms could become severe, “with heavy rainfall, damaging wind and large hailstones all possible outcomes”.
BoM said it will issue thunderstorm warnings as conditions develop.
⛈️⚠️ The risk of thunderstorms is extensive across New South Wales today.
Storms could become severe, with heavy rainfall, damaging wind and large hailstones all possible outcomes. Thunderstorm Warnings will be issued if this happens.
Its a good day to stay up to date. pic.twitter.com/JiTokCwEGa
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) September 9, 2025
NAB to cut more than 400 jobs
Jonathan Barrett
National Australia Bank is planning to cut more than 400 roles as job losses from the banking sector escalate.
The announcement comes one day after ANZ confirmed plans to slash 3,500 jobs over the next year, representing about 8% of its head count. The NAB cuts are expected to focus on its technology and enterprise operations.
A NAB spokesperson said:
While some roles are no longer required or may move location, we are also creating new roles across all locations as necessary, to ensure we are set up for success and can deliver better outcomes.
The Finance Sector Union’s national president, Wendy Streets, said:
Two banks in two days slashing jobs, it’s shameful. This isn’t one rogue bank, it’s the whole sector driving the same agenda at the expense of workers and communities.
While Australia’s major banks have routinely denied any link between recent major job restructures and artificial intelligence technology, thousands of jobs have been lost at the same time as AI use soars in their back-office operations.
The FSU said NAB’s changes will affect 728 workers, which includes 410 permanent job cuts.
Patrick Commins
Slashing migration would actually lead to higher house prices in Australia. Here’s why.
Think closing our borders would fix the housing crisis? Think again.
Eliminating migration for the coming decade would actually leave property prices 2.3% higher by the mid-2030s, according to economic modelling by KPMG; and there are other negative economic consequences too.
The temporary post-lockdown surge in net migration is now on the wane, but it appears to have left behind a heightened level of national sensitivity to the issue.
The chief economist at KPMG, Brendan Rynne, shares the consensus view among economists that migration has been good for the Australian economy. In an ageing society with a productivity problem, migrants are typically younger and better educated, and they bring new skills and ideas.
Read more here:
Krishani Dhanji
Bob Katter finally discloses interests, three weeks after deadline
Queensland MP Bob Katter has finally put in his register of interests (which all MPs and senators must do), after missing the deadline by three weeks.
Katter submitted his register yesterday after questioning by Guardian Australia, with every declaration due by 19 August.
Members are supposed to disclose things like shares, properties, interests, gifts and assets over a certain threshold, owned by them or their partner. Not publishing them within 28 days of parliament being opened can be treated as contempt of the house (but it’s very unlikely there would have been action against Katter on this matter).
In Katter’s list of family trusts and businesses, he stated “I may have some interest in cattle operations in the gulf”. He also stated rather candidly:
In mining, nothing definite at this stage, but I intend to take up old mining tenements discovered by myself prior to entering parliament.
But he says there are “no specifics yet”. He gave the same response in previous declarations.
He also writes that his in-laws have “extensive dealings with the government”, but we have no details on what those dealings are, and that some family members have “interests in cattle”.
Australia Post details what parcel shipping will look like once service to US resumes
Gary Starr, the executive general manager of Australia Post’s parcel, post and e-commerce services, detailed how parcels will make their way to the US once the agency restarts postage to the country later this month. AusPost said yesterday it would resume operations for packages to the US by 25 September after a temporary pause to deal with Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
Under the changes, any parcel valued more than US$100 will be subject to duties linked to the sending country’s tariff rate, which is 10% for Australian goods.
Starr said the new system was complex, noting AusPost had partnered with a company vetted by the US so those duties and taxes could be paid before a parcel leaves Australia. He told RN Breakfast earlier:
What’s now required is for the duties and taxes to be collected before the item leaves Australia. And without an authorisation code, the US Customs and Border Protection won’t assess the product and it’ll just get returned …
As soon as we had the detail a couple of weeks ago, we engaged with one of the partners, and just really now it’s about getting integrated into that new system so that the taxes and duties can be paid and we can get cross-border commerce flowing again into the US.
Researchers make breakthrough on koala STI vaccine
A breakthrough vaccine for a common sexually transmitted disease has provided fresh hope for Australia’s most beloved endangered animal – and maybe a blueprint for human use, AAP reports.
Researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast spent more than a decade developing a single-use vaccine for chlamydia in koalas. Prof Peter Timms, from the university’s Centre for Bioinnovation, said studies on koala populations using the vaccine over a 10-year period had shown reduced rates of disease and improved health outcomes, particularly for animals of breeding age.
After habitat loss and vehicle strikes, chlamydia is one of the main threats to koala populations, leading to blindness, pneumonia, urinary and reproductive tract infections, infertility and death.
The vaccine has been approved by the national regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medical Authority. Timms said he hoped the vaccine would begin to be rolled out early in 2026, starting with koalas in wildlife hospitals before progressing to wild populations.
Safe partying hub will help young Australians understand risks overseas, Wong says
Penny Wong spoke about the new Partying Safely Hub, saying the effort would help ensure more young Australians are “aware of the risk” associated with going out overseas.
She told ABC News this morning:
We lost Holly and Bianca, two beautiful young Australians, to methanol poisoning in Laos, and we were determined after talking with the grieving families, that one of the things we could do is to try to make sure that more young Australians were aware of the risks.
So we want people to protect themselves when they go overseas.
Wong was asked about the investigation into the deaths, saying the government shared families’ frustrations with the lack of progress:
I’ve pressed the Laos authorities on numerous occasions, as have others, about the need for there to be a full and thorough investigation of these tragic deaths.
Tom McIlroy
Wong launches new information hub to guard travellers against methanol poisoning
Australian travellers will have access to new information to help them avoid methanol poisoning in drinks when travelling overseas.
Ahead of Schoolies Week celebrations, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has launched the new Partying Safely Hub on the Smartraveller website.
It has information about partying safely while overseas and what to do if something goes wrong abroad.
Release of the resources follows the tragic deaths of Australian travellers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones in Laos last year.
The Albanese government is continuing to press the government of Laos for a transparent and thorough investigation into their deaths, which followed drinking at a popular tourist spot.
The hub has practical information for parents, universities and schools on key topics involving alcohol safety, methanol poisoning, drink spiking, drug safety and travel insurance.
Wong said:
The tragic deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles as a result of methanol poisoning in Laos are a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers young people face when travelling abroad.
We want young Australians to explore the world with confidence, but above all we want them to have the knowledge and resources to come home safely.
Wong says Cop 31 negotiations remain ‘pretty difficult’
Penny Wong said negotiations surrounding the Cop 31 summit, which the government wants to see next year in Adelaide, remained “pretty difficult” as Turkey hopes to win the bid itself. She said the government would continue to compete for the UN climate conference in an effort to elevate the issue of climate breakdown in the Pacific, telling ABC News:
We obviously have been to two elections with this commitment, and the fundamental drive for our commitment is because we want to elevate Pacific voices. The Pacific is on the frontline of climate change. …
We want to have a Pacific conference of the parties to elevate the experience of the Pacific peoples in the face of climate change.
Wong says Israeli strikes on Qatar ‘the wrong thing to do’
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said she hopes Israel’s strikes on Qatar will not make a ceasefire highly unlikely, but admitted it will “obviously make it harder” to reach one.
Wong just spoke to ABC News:
The Australian government believes this was the wrong thing to do. Qatar, as you know, has been one of the parties seeking an immediate ceasefire. It has been working with the United States on the return of hostages. This is a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. It imperils that work on the ceasefire and it risks escalation.
Wong added that Australia was limited in its ability to stop the war between Israel and Hamas as the nation is not a central player in the conflict:
We can’t end the war. What we can do is support the calls for a ceasefire and the work and the work of the United States and others to try to broker a ceasefire.
Australia ‘perfectly positioned’ to host next UN climate conference, Thistlethwaite says
Thistlethwaite added that the government believes Australia is “perfectly positioned” to host Cop 31, the UN’s major climate summit, next year. The country is still vying with Turkey for the right to host the event alongside Pacific nations.
Thistlethwaite told RN Breakfast:
We think that Australia is perfectly positioned to host this Cop 31 given the urgency of climate change in the Pacific. And really, we want to see some of those northern hemisphere leaders come to the southern hemisphere, come to Australia, to Adelaide, and hopefully use the time that they’re here to think about perhaps travelling to Pacific neighbours and engaging with their governments and their people around the urgency of climate change.
