‘We owe it to history’ to defeat One Nation, PM tells Labor faithful – as it happened

From

What we learned, Sunday 30 August

We’re going to wrap up our live news coverage today.

Here’s a recap of the day’s top headlines:

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has told party faithful in Queensland that “we owe it to history” to defeat rightwing populism, amid a surge in support for One Nation and rising anti-immigration sentiment.

• Pauline Hanson’s rightwing party won the Secret Harbour byelection in Western Australia on Saturday. Federal minister Tanya Plibersek said Labor would “have a good look” at the result but that the poll was largely held on state issues.

• Plibersek also told ABC’s Insiders that the federal cabinet had never discussed cutting Australia’s refugee intake, contradicting reports this week.

• The government is reviewing the import of smartglasses capable of recording video images, Plibersek says.

• Missing Australian woman Cara Severino, who had lost contact with her family after flash flooding in Nepal, was safely located. Her family said they were “beyond relieved and elated”.

• Speakers at anti-immigration rallies held across the country have taken credit for the surge in support for One Nation.
  

Key events

• 8h ago

  What we learned, Sunday 30 August

• 8h ago

  Mark Latham and right-wing activists address March for Australia rallies

• 8h ago

  Man charged with murder of elderly woman in Tasmania

• 8h ago

  March for Australia rallies claim credit for One Nation's rise

• 9h ago

  Victorian Labor pledges to double pothole fixes if re-elected

• 10h ago

  Family ‘beyond relieved and elated’ Cara Severino found safe

• 10h ago

  We ‘owe it to history’ to defeat One Nation, PM tells Brisbane Labor conference

• 11h ago

  Man dies after eighth-floor balcony fall in Sydney

• 11h ago

  Joyce suggests One Nation would reject refugees from Nepal if country judged unsafe

• 12h ago

  Man in police custody after suspicious death of woman in Tasmania

• 13h ago

  Thirteen-year-old dies from head injuries after e-scooter crash

• 13h ago

  Cabinet never discussed cutting refugee intake, says Plibersek

• 13h ago

  Imports of smartglasses could face government regulation, says Plibersek

• 14h ago

  Missing Australian woman Cara Severino found after Nepal floods

• 14h ago

  Good morning

Mark Latham and right-wing activists address March for Australia rallies

Mark Latham and right-wing influencer Auspill were among the speakers at the “free speech” March for Australia rallies today.

Benjamin van der Linden, from a group called Make Australia Christian Again, posted footage showing Hugo Lennon, who goes by the name Auspill online, leading a march in Melbourne in chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie”.

Latham, the former federal Labor opposition leader and ex-One Nation New South Wales state leader, was among the headline speakers at the Sydney rally today. He called for the abolition of “all the Chris Minns hate speech laws”.

The crowd booed when Anthony Albanese and Mehreen Faruqi’s names were mentioned, but the jeers were loudest when Minns, the NSW premier, was mentioned. Other Sydney speakers included Libertarian MP John Ruddick, Chris Yates from activist group CitizenGO and former federal Liberal MP Ross Cameron.

According to the March for Australia Facebook page, Brisbane’s rally was be addressed by Barclay McGain, a former young Liberal National party member and now in the conservative political action conference (CPAC); the far-right influencer Andre Mamet, known as Ausmaxx; and Harry Richardson, from the British Australian Community, an organisation for “celebrating the ongoing contributions to Australia by people of British Isles descent”.

Queensland police said about 400 people attended the Brisbane CBD rally where two men were directed to move on after “breaching the peace”, a spokesperson said. They said 50 people attended the city’s counterprotest.

NSW police said they issued three men move-on orders.

Man charged with murder of elderly woman in Tasmania

Tasmanian police say they have charged a 55-year-old Huonville man with the murder of an elderly woman in the early hours of Sunday morning.

They say the body of the woman, 85, was located at her Stride Street home at Huonville.

Detectives have now charged the 55-year-old man with murder and he will appear in court on Monday.

March for Australia rallies claim credit for One Nation's rise

Luca Ittimani

Hundreds of people have gathered in capital cities at rallies organised under the banner of anti-immigration March for Australia.

Over 300 people gathered for a “free speech” rally in Belmore Park in the Sydney CBD at midday. More than 70 police officers attended, including riot squad officers and mounted police on horseback. A counter-protest had been scheduled for Hyde Park.

Brian Marlow, founder of nationalist activist group Revive Australia, led the rally. Much of the crowd raised their hands when he asked if they had attended the first March For Australia in August 2025. Bec Freedom, who organised the first March For Australia in 2025, received a round of applause.

Marlow said the marches were responsible for One Nation’s subsequent rise in the polls, with the minor party now claiming close to 30% of primary votes and winning the Secret Harbour byelection in WA yesterday.

Marlow said of One Nation:

They’re romping it home in byelections. Unfortunately, they elected the wrong person in Farrer, David Farley, but we can handle that, we can deal with that later … We have shown that if we get together and we do not give an inch we can win.”

At least four attenders in Sydney wore One Nation shirts. March For Australia’s social media pages have been highly critical of the party in recent weeks for its confused endorsement of a net migration target of 130,000 people a year.

Attenders at Sydney’s rally cheered at the mention of “remigration” and an end to “mass” migration.

Victorian Labor pledges to double pothole fixes if re-elected

Victorian Labor has pledged to fix half a million potholes, AAP reports.

The premier, Ben Carroll, will fund the $352m election pledge to double the number of potholes fixed on Victorian roads by delaying planned removal of three level crossings.

“The condition of our roads is not good enough,” Carroll said on Sunday.

“I respect your money and I have made commonsense decisions to show how we can afford it.”

He said planners had identified $112m in savings by deferring the completion of level crossing removals in Highett and Mentone by one year, which will be added to the state budget’s $1.4bn allocation for roads.

The saving would allow Victoria to double the number of potholes fixed next year – from 250,000 to 500,000.

“This is part of my new direction: to spend our money wisely, to focus relentlessly on the basics, and that is what I’m here to do,” Carroll said.

He said most of the potholes will be removed when the weather is driest, in the second half of this year and into January.

Shadow minister for police, Brad Battin, questioned the timing of Carroll’s announcement, given an election is set for 28 November, and claimed Labor had “neglected” roads for 12 years.

“Five minutes before an election and all of a sudden Ben Carroll has found there’s potholes in Victoria,” Battin said.

“And now he’s come out with a small patch fix for a major problem in Victoria.”

In July, the Liberal-National opposition pledged to invest $5bn over four years to repair and rebuild Victoria’s roads, including the elimination of 1m potholes.

Their plan involves a 25% increase on current spending.

Police suspend search for pilot missing in remote NT

Northern Territory police say they’ve suspended search for pilot Bob Bramley, who is believed to have died in a plane crash in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Bramley, 23, from Tasmania, was believed to be the only occupant of a charter plane that reportedly crashed off the coast of Groote Eylandt on Tuesday.

Police divers had found some pieces of aircraft debris.

In a statement, the NT police said that “following careful consideration of all available information” the search had been suspended, and Bramley’s family had been advised.

Police said the a multi-day search from the air and sea, including specialist divers, had already taken place.

“Every reasonable search option has been considered and undertaken. Our thoughts remain with the pilot’s family during what is an incredibly difficult time,” the police statement said.

“Northern Territory police will assess and action any new information should it become available.”

Family ‘beyond relieved and elated’ Cara Severino found safe

The family of Australian woman Cara Severino – who had been missing in flash flooding in Nepal – say news she is safe is a “miraculous gift” after days without news following the disaster.

Severino had been hiking in the region and was listed as missing after the disaster. She had limited phone reception and a flat battery, but was able to make contact with her family on Friday as she headed towards Kathmandu.

In a statement, her parents Debbie and Frank Severino said:

We are beyond relieved and so elated to have Cara safe and well and we can’t wait to hold her in our loving arms. This morning we are being enfolded in love by our church family who, along with so many of our family and friends, have been praying with us for this miracle. We thank Jesus for answering these prayers.

Seeing Cara’s name appear on my message bank, hearing her voice and now seeing her photo and speaking with her has been the most miraculous gift. We are incredibly thankful to the Australian Consular Response teams for locating her and bringing her to safety and for the care they are giving her and all the amazing work they are doing to locate others. We are so grateful to her Nepalese hiking partners who saw her through a harrowing several days of hiking in very difficult terrain, so thankful that they have all made it to safety.

The scale of this tragedy is staggering and amidst our personal joy we continue to stand in prayer with the many families here in Australia, in Nepal and around the world who have lost loved ones or are still waiting to hear from them, we know that the waiting is horrendous.

Albanese outlines battle plan against One Nation for working-class voters

Anthony Albanese’s speech to Queensland Labor delegates contains a roadmap for the party to take the fight to One Nation over traditional working-class issues.

His words were particularly relevant in a state that has arguably more of the sorts of areas – blue collar communities of outer-suburban and regional voters – where traditional Labor supporters are targets of Pauline Hanson’s insurgency.

It’s obvious – One Nation are not on the side of working people.

How is their plan to cut penalty rates going to help the people of Logan, or Gladstone, or Strathpine, or Ipswich, or Mt Isa?

The only mainstream political force in Australia that seeks to govern in the interests of the Australian people in their own right is the Australian Labor party.

The best way to defeat this coalition of chaos is to give Australians real hope of a better future. For their country. And for their families and themselves.

To stay positive. To be the party with the ideas that will make our people’s lives better, our economy stronger, our country safer, our environment cleaner.

We ‘owe it to history’ to defeat One Nation, PM tells Brisbane Labor conference

The prime minister’s speech to Labor delegates in Brisbane this morning contained a rallying cry for the party faithful amid the rise of One Nation, the morning after another political shock wave.

Anthony Albanese said it had become “a crucial time” for the Labor movement.

Across the world, hard-right populists are on the march.

Peddling politics that is dangerous, divisive, and downright dishonest.

We simply must defeat them. We owe it to history.

And we will defeat them.

They’ll say anything and do anything to win votes. Bend any facts. Peddle misinformation and disinformation. Turn Australian against Australian.

Albanese said: “Parties like One Nation have no serious answers to our problems” and reaffirmed the party’s support for multiculturalism.

Delegates, we unequivocally support multiculturalism because we know it’s part of Australia’s strength.

And because we believe every Australian is equal, whether they are Australian by birth or Australian by choice.

PM says Australia’s role in Pacific matters ‘more than ever’ ahead of regional summit

The prime minister says Australia will remain “a partner and a leader” in the Pacific, as he prepares to take part in regional talks this week, AAP reports.

Anthony Albanese will attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau from Monday.

On Sunday, addressing the Labor faithful at the party’s Queensland state conference, he said allowing Pacific nations to succeed would also benefit Australia.

The big challenges facing the Pacific require solutions designed and delivered for the Pacific, by the Pacific.

In a time of strategic competition in our region, our engagement in the Pacific Islands Forum and our contributions to the infrastructure, regional security and climate action of the region matter more than ever before.

Albanese also reaffirmed his support for workforce schemes that bring Pacific Island labour to Australia, amid domestic debate about immigration.

“People from the Pacific make an enormous contribution to Australia’s prosperity through their vital work in regional industries like agriculture and meat processing,” he said.

“So many of our farmers and food producers rely on them.

“We know also the wages they remit home help boost the economies of their families and communities, contributing to the prosperity and stability of the whole region.”

Man dies after eighth-floor balcony fall in Sydney

A man died after he fell from a balcony on Sunday morning in Sydney, prompting a critical incident review.

New South Wales police said they attended an apartment block in Elizabeth Bay, east of Sydney’s CBD, before 8am today as part of ongoing investigations.

Kings Cross police attended an eighth-floor apartment to speak with a 40-year-old man, but a 38-year-old woman spoke to the officers and refused to let them in the unit. The woman left soon after, police said.

Officers stayed outside the unit but then heard that a man had fallen from a balcony. They then found the 40-year-old man and provided assistance until paramedics arrived and treated him for critical injuries. The man died at the scene.

Police said they established a crime scene and a critical incident team from another police area command would investigate the circumstances. The Professional Standards Command will review that investigation, with oversight from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, police said.

Police said it was unclear whether the man fell or jumped, but his injuries were consistent with falling from eight floors. They declined to say what the investigation was into, but said police would contact the woman.

Joyce suggests One Nation would reject refugees from Nepal if country judged unsafe

Barnaby Joyce says a One Nation government would avoid taking refugees from flood-ravaged Nepal if the department advised Australians to avoid travelling there.

The MP refused to say outright whether One Nation planned to cut Australia’s refugee intake or permanent migration in an interview on News24. But he raised Nepal, unprompted, as an example of the party’s principle for blocking immigration.

Asked if he agreed the refugee program should be cut, Joyce said:

The refugee program has got to work within a policy structure we’ve got. Remember, we’ve clearly stated that if an area, the Department of Foreign Affairs says it’s too unsafe to go there, then it’s unsafe to bring people from there and away from there, like such as places in Nepal. I presume that the Department of Foreign Affairs says it’s not unsafe to go to Nepal, but I wouldn’t be going there at the moment ...

The government at present only advises Australians to reconsider their need to travel to certain areas within 50 kilometres of central Nepal’s Trishuli River, and to exercise caution otherwise.

Asked if One Nation would hypothetically stop bringing Nepali people here were the department to advise against travelling there, Joyce said:

Well, I don’t know what Dfat’s position is right now and whether it covers the whole of Nepal. I know the Nepalese community have a huge say in sections of our country and the workforce, but they do it [arrive in Australia] within the visa category. And if they do come in, they’ll be within the Nom [net overseas migration].

Asked “are you happy with the refugee program at 20,000, yes or no,” Joyce said:

It fits within the Nom. That is our policy. And the refugee policy, it’s not that it’s dispensed, but you can’t come from countries which are dangerous. Like if you can’t go there, you shouldn’t be coming here.

Earlier, Joyce declined to say what outcome a One Nation government would seek for permanent migration, a different measure. He declined to say even whether it would be below Labor’s target of 180,000.

I would suggest, Andrew, very, very strongly that it would be, but I’m not going to go into the sort of the, you know, the, the, the peculiarities of what two numbers make up net.

You can read more about this week’s debate on migration numbers here:

Man in police custody after suspicious death of woman in Tasmania

A man is in custody as police investigate the suspicious death of a woman early this morning in Tasmania’s southeast.

Tasmania police said a woman was found deceased inside her home in Huonville on Sunday morning and officers were called to the scene at about 4.30am.

On arrival, officers determined the death was suspicious, police said. Criminal investigators, forensics and other specialist officers were at the home this morning to examine the circumstances of the woman’s death.

Police said they had taken a man into custody to assist investigations.