Dfat seeking urgent update from Israel on Australians in Global Sumud flotilla

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is urgently seeking an update from Israeli authorities on the Australians involved in the Global Sumud flotilla

A spokesperson for Dfat said:

While our officials stand ready to provide consular assistance to any affected Australians, our ability to provide support in Israel and Palestine is limited at this time due to the conflict in the Middle East.

We continue to urge Australians not to join others seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade as they will be putting themselves and others at risk of injury, death, arrest or deportation.

We encourage those wishing to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza to do so through established channels.

Twelve Australians onboard allegedly intercepted Global Sumud flotilla boats, spokesperson says

The number of Australians who are onboard boats sailing to Gaza on the Global Sumud flotilla that have allegedly been intercepted by Israeli naval forces has risen to 12, a spokesperson for the fleet told Guardian Australia.

About 14 Australians in total are onboard the dozens of vessels that set sail to Gaza from Italy on Monday in the hope of delivering 500 tonnes of aid and volunteers to the decimated strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel.

The spokesperson said they were now only in contact with two of the Australians after 14 boats were intercepted and subject to communications blackouts. Of those, four were boarded live on CCTV.

A remaining 48 vessels were continuing to sail towards Greek waters. A press conference is taking place in Sydney from 1pm when family members of the activists will address the media. We’ll bring you the latest here.

The Israeli foreign ministry and Dfat have been approached for comment.

Australian shares falling for eighth consecutive day, with Woolworths down 7%

The Australian sharemarket is on track to fall eight days in a row as oil prices keep rising.

Investors are losing confidence the US-Israel war on Iran, and its disruption to oil trade, will end soon. Oil prices have risen over the second half of April, from close to US$80 a barrel to US$109 today, on the West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark.

Investors expect that will hit Australian profits, meaning local shares are falling. The All Ordinaries is down 0.18% today, to 8,899.8 points.

Big companies’ stocks aren’t falling as much: the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index is down nearly 0.12% to 8,677.3 points. The big banks are all rising, but miners are falling.

Woolworths is down a massive 6.7%, wiping $3bn from its market value. As we reported earlier, the supermarket giant is expecting a hit to food sales throughout 2026.

Woolworths shares had risen nearly 27% since the start of 2026. An RBC Capital Markets analyst, Michael Toner, said that rise appeared much higher this year than was justified by today’s result.

Existing property investors likely to avoid more tax under possible capital gains tax reform

Existing property investors look set to avoid paying more tax under Labor’s mooted changes to CGT in next month’s budget, based on comments from Jim Chalmers in a podcast released today.

The treasurer is widely expected to modify the flat 50% tax discount on profits from the sale of assets held for more than one year, potentially returning to the pre-1999 model where capital gains are adjusted for inflation.

Chalmers told the CommBank View podcast:

Without getting into hypotheticals about policies, what you try and do is to make sure that we recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past …

Even if we went down the path that has been speculated about in those areas [capital gains tax] that you’ve asked me about, people shouldn’t expect there to be this huge amount of new revenue show up over the course of the next few years in the budget.

Read the full story here:

Greens call on Australian government to act after interception of Global Sumud Flotilla

The Greens leader, senator Larissa Waters, has accused Israel of a “shocking breach of international law” after at least five Australians were allegedly intercepted onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza overnight.

Waters pressed on the Australian government to intervene for the Australians to be released. They have not been heard from since communications were cut off on at least seven boats while attempting to enter Greek waters.

Waters said:

These flotilla participants are bravely trying to bring essential supplies to Palestinians under illegal blockade by Israel, and this act of piracy shows how far the Netanyahu government will go to ensure the genocide continues.

The Australian government should be championing the actions of the brave flotilla participants, and must now strongly fight for them to be released … Labor must stop ignoring Israel’s constant breaches of international law.

Dfat and the Israeli foreign ministry have been contacted for comment.

Alice Springs search enters fifth day for allegedly abducted five-year-old Sharon

Northern Territory police say there have been no major developments overnight in the search for the missing five-year-old Sharon, who police believe was taken by 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis from Old Timers Camp, outside of Alice Springs.

The young girl was last seen by her mother at 11.30pm on Saturday. A short time before her disappearance NT police say she was seen with Lewis, who was holding her hand. An arrest order was issued for Lewis on Sunday. Yesterday, police found several items related to the pair including a child’s underwear and a yellow T-shirt that Lewis was last seen wearing.

In a statement to Guardian Australia, authorities confirmed that six of the 20 sq km search zone has been extensively covered on foot, with air support currently scouring the terrain for any signs of Sharon:

A helicopter is in the air now, focusing over the Mt Johns area and nearby bushland, with more air assets deploying today,” NT police said. More than 170 volunteers are assembling for the search.

72 people are on the ground as of a short time ago with the total ground search team yesterday reaching 172 individuals.

Police are encouraging more people, including experienced civilian horse riders, to join the search and comb the rugged bush and scrub in the search and rescue efforts.

The community support the NT Police Force’s Search and Rescue team has received has been overwhelming. Police would like to thank the community for this support as they work to bring Sharon home.

Multiple recommendations will be kept confidential as they could compromise national security

As we noted earlier, multiple recommendations in the interim report will not be made public. Albanese said in a statement:

The interim report contains a small number of classified recommendations which cannot be publicly released because they could compromise sensitive national security information. The government will respond swiftly to these recommendations and Australians will see practical outcomes through a range of policy, program and funding measures.

Higher security at Jewish festivals recommended

The top recommendation from the royal commission’s interim report is that the “procedures adopted by NSW Police in respect of Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those that have a public facing element”.

The report states that, since the 7 October 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas, an “increase in the occurrence and reporting of antisemitic incidents has led to a significant increase in contact between relevant NSW Police Commands” and the Jewish safety organisation, Community Security Group NSW – particularly cultural festivals including Purim, Passover, Shavuot, the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret), Chanukah and days of cultural significance.

The report notes there is already “substantial engagement” between CSG and police agencies, but that there “may be scope for exploring different modes of collaboration between all parties”.

It suggests potential benefit in working closer, including whether police could start “meeting together regularly with CSG NSW at the operational level, to discuss the threat environment faced by Jewish Australians, planning for upcoming events and receiving CSG assessments and threat information”.

‘We’re acting on it’, Albanese says of interim report recommendations

The prime minister was asked how long it will take to implement the recommendations in the interim report; weeks, months or years. He said the government only received the report this morning and had already convened the national security committee, showing the brisk pace of action:

We’re not sitting back and just reading this document. We’re acting on it.

PM calls for nationally consistent gun reform

Albanese was just asked about the pace of gun reform in the wake of the Bondi attack and resistance from some states and territories. He said:

We support the recommendations, all of them. It will be up to state and territories. Of course, we’ll have to give consideration to the very clear recommendations – there were two of the recommendations that make it clear – that we should progress with nationally consistent gun reform.

I certainly hope that that occurs, and would continue to engage constructively with state and territory governments to say that this is reform, which is necessary.

Too early to tell if there were intelligence failures before Bondi attack: royal commissioner

The interim royal commission report into the Bondi massacre says it has not yet reached any conclusions about intelligence failures or police resourcing before the attack.

In the interim report released on Thursday morning, commissioner Virginia Bell said:

While systemic aspects of the effectiveness of Commonwealth and state intelligence and law enforcement … are addressed in this Interim Report, important issues arising from the Bondi attack, including whether there was any failure to identify and act upon intelligence in the lead up to it, or in the allocation of police resources to the Chanukah event, will be addressed in hearings.

No conclusion in these respects can be reached on a review of the agencies’ documents alone and in the absence of according procedural fairness to any person or agency at risk of an adverse finding.

Bell said it was possible these questions would have to be asked in private hearings:

In light of the nature of the evidence that I anticipate will be led, some hearings will need to be closed to the public (closed hearings).

To the extent that it is possible to adduce evidence touching on intelligence and security matters in public this will be done.

The commission also noted that a submission received just before the finalisation of the interim report proposed improvements to the National Criminal Intelligence System, and “will be investigated in the course of hearings”.

Albanese says national security committee agreed to adopt all recommendations relevant to the commonwealth

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking now in Sydney after the delivery of an interim report from the Bondi royal commission.

“Five months on from the attack, Australia’s Jewish community is still grieving. Still hurting, still craving answers,” he said.

He said the report will help the nation “understand what happened that day, to help us stamp out the hatred that drove the attackers and to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again”.

He said the report found no urgent changes are required to keep Australia safe. But the 14 recommendations included in the interim report would enhance the nation’s counter-terrorism arrangements and capabilities.

Albanese said the national security committee had met this morning and will adopt all of the recommendations that a relevant to the commonwealth.

Bondi terror accused will not be called to give evidence to royal commission, Virginia Bell says

The accused shooter behind the Bondi terror massacre at a Jewish Hanukah festival will not be called to give evidence at the royal commission, commissioner Virginia Bell says, and has indicated that witnesses to the attack may also not feature in her inquiry.

It’s also unlikely the royal commission will – at least in its public hearings or reports – make any findings about the motivation behind the attack.

Her interim report gives some new ideas about her thinking about how the commission will be framed. In the report, Bell writes that her “general principle, … to guide the conduct of the Royal Commission in light of the current criminal proceedings” include not asking the accused to be interviewed or give evidence.

“Persons who are, or who are likely to be, witnesses in the criminal proceedings ought not be interviewed or called to give evidence about the Bondi attack,” Bell wrote.

The Royal Commission ought not, in its public hearings or publicly available report, make findings or comments about the intention and motivation of the shooters. To the extent that it is possible, the Royal Commission should avoid causing or contributing to further publicity that may occasion prejudice to the accused among potential jurors.

Instructor and student killed in small plane crash near Adelaide yesterday

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said an instructor and a student were the two people killed in a small plane crash near Adelaide’s Parafield airport.

The four-seat airplane had just taken off from the airport when it crashed into a hangar where a large amount of fuel was stored. The ATSB said it is investigating the cause of the accident, which also injured 10 people on the ground.

ATSB chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, told ABC News Breakfast this morning:

We know quite tragically the instructor and the student have lost their lives.

Equally, we know a number of personnel were inside the hangar it’s impacted, with varying degrees of injuries to quite significant burns to smoke inhalation.

They’re being treated in various Adelaide hospitals as we speak.

Officials will hold a press conference on the crash later this morning.

Bondi royal commission report has 14 recommendations

We’re still awaiting the interim report of the Bondi royal commission to drop – we hope it will be publicly released before the prime minister gives a press conference later this morning – but one detail has so far been released.

On the royal commission’s website, it says:

The Interim Report examines the circumstances surrounding the antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025 (Term of Reference (c)).

It contains 14 recommendations.

We’ll bring you more of those recommendations when the report is published. The royal commission says its final report “will be submitted no later than 14 December 2026”.

Too early to predict impacts on profitability, Woolworths says

Woolworths says it is still too early to predict the impacts on its profitability from the conflict and how elevated living costs will impact shopping behaviours.

Consumer prices are now growing at their fastest pace in two-and-a-half years, according to inflation data released yesterday.

The overall Woolworths business, which includes Big W and its New Zealand operations, reported a 4.5% lift in quarterly sales to $18.1bn.

Separately, Woolworths is defending a court action taken by the consumer watchdog over allegations it broke consumer law by offering “illusory” discounts to shoppers.

Closing arguments are scheduled to start today in the federal court in Sydney.

Woolworths food sales up amid inflation warning

Woolworths has warned that high fuel costs stemming from the Middle East conflict will exert greater inflationary pressures later this year after reporting strong food sales across its Australian supermarkets.

The country’s biggest supermarket chain recorded a 5.9% lift in food sales from its flagship Australian division to $13.8bn, according to quarterly financial results released this morning.

Woolworths chief executive, Amanda Bardwell, says the conflict is “creating greater uncertainty for our customers, suppliers and team at a time when cost-of-living pressures are already acute”.

“While the impact on the group to date has been limited, higher fuel costs and secondary effects are likely to have an increasing inflationary impact as we move through the calendar year,” Bardwell says.

At an idyllic Sydney beach, a 25-tonne sperm whale slowly disintegrates

On a rock shelf at the southern end of Era beach, the estimated 25-tonne body of a sperm whale rests like a melted candle. Looking down at the rock pools, floating chunks of white fat bob in the water.

Since its discovery on Saturday morning, the rotting whale has lured sharks to the coastline, forcing the closure of several beaches in Sydney’s Royal national park.

Surf Life Saving New South Wales reported a shark sighting at Era beach at 9.28am on Saturday. By Sunday morning, SharkSmart confirmed all beaches within the national park – including Garie, North Era, South Era, Wattamolla and Burning Palms – were closed, and they remained so as of Wednesday.

Iran war could result in thousands fewer new homes

The Iran war could result in Australia building 33,000 fewer homes than planned, the government’s independent housing adviser has warned.

AAP reports Australia was making ground on its housing supply targets before the Middle East conflict broke out in late February, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council found in its annual state of the housing system report on Thursday.

But the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, which sent fuel prices skyrocketing and disrupted supply chains for building materials such as PVC pipe, has severely affected the housing sector.

Prior to the conflict, the council was estimating that Australia would build 980,000 new homes over the National Housing Accord period, which ends in June 2029.

But the council now expects 33,000 fewer homes will be built over the accord period than previously assumed if the crisis persists and the increase in construction costs peaks at 10%.

The impact could be even worse as the council’s modelling does not take into account consumer sentiment, reticence to borrow and broader economic conditions.

Australia’s use of methamphetamine has doubled in a decade, wastewater monitoring reveals

Methamphetamine use in Australia has almost doubled in the past decade and stimulants are being taken at record highs, new wastewater monitoring reveals.

On Wednesday evening the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Acic) released its latest annual report after testing wastewater samples from 64 treatment plants across the country between August 2024 and 2025.

It found that consumption of crystal meth, also known as ice, was at its highest recorded level since the program began in 2016.

Read more here:

Albanese ruled out a gas export tax on existing contracts yesterday, criticising a ‘populist’ campaign

Anthony Albanese confirmed yesterday next month’s federal budget will not include a new tax on existing gas export contracts as he criticised the “populist” campaign calling for a levy on producers.

In a speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia on Wednesday, the prime minister directly tied gas exports to Australia’s fuel security amid the global energy crisis. He said:

The middle of a global fuel crisis is the worst possible time to jeopardise these partnerships, or the investment that underpins them.

You can read more about his feelings here:

Chalmers understands calls for gas export tax, but says government focused on getting fuel for Australians

Chalmers said he understands calls to tax gas exports, but maintained the government was set on securing international supply arrangements during the ongoing fuel crisis. He told ABC News:

I understand that there is a constituency in the Australian community to go further … But there are also, as the prime minister said, really good reasons to prioritise these international supply arrangements particularly during this oil shock.

All of us have been prioritising getting fuel for Australia and for Australians to keep the economy ticking over and that’s why there are good reasons for the comments that the prime minister made yesterday.

Read more from the Guardian’s Adam Morton here:

Chalmers says inflation numbers were ‘confronting’

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said yesterday’s inflation numbers were “confronting”, saying Australians are paying a hefty price for the war in the Middle East.

He said his responsibility was to take “some of the edge off” of these higher prices, pointing to the halving of the fuel excise and ongoing efforts to tackle cost of living. He said fuel prices were “overwhelmingly the driver of the higher inflation that we saw in the numbers released”.

Chalmers said work on the budget, due to be delivered next month, is still ongoing, adding to ABC News Breakfast that issues affecting housing and younger Australians were top of mind.

He added:

We’ve been very upfront with people and said when we think about the intergenerational unfairness in the budget, in our economy, in our society more broadly, a couple of the drivers of that are in housing, are in the tax system.

PM maintains Australia providing ‘no support’ to those families

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said at a news conference on Wednesday that “we are providing no support for repatriation and no assistance for these people”, AP adds.

At a separate news conference in Beijing, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, on Wednesday said that her government has made “very clear that we are not assisting in their repatriation.”

Syria’s information ministry said the families, through a lawyer, had obtained passports that were delivered by an “individual” that it didn’t identify while they were still in north-eastern Syria in an area under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

A previous attempt to return 34 women and children to Australia from the camp in February was turned back by Syrian authorities.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.

Good morning, and welcome to Thursday. Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news. As always, let’s get to it.