Australia news LIVE: Heartbreak for Matildas after loss; PM strikes deal with state, territory leaders over housing target

NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen has apologised to thousands of Matildas fans who were left stranded by major train delays last night.

After two men were charged with damaging rail infrastructure that led to the delay, Haylen said the rail network was deliberately corrupted by criminal acts.

“I want to make very clear that this is not some minor act of vandalism by teenagers,” she said.

“This is a deliberate act by fully grown adults who have significantly damaged critical rail infrastructure.

“It is unbelievable that two individuals undertook this act. It really beggars belief in risks, the safety of our network, and it is not acceptable.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles are seeking formal endorsement for the AUKUS deal from the Labor Party faithful, as delegates air concerns about alleged attempts to tamp down dissent on the floor of the conference.

Jostling over the landmark security pact caused tension yesterday after an internal Left faction memo indicated that delegates only – rather than proxy delegates and conference observers – would be permitted to attend Left caucus meetings, prompting concern from two party figures who challenged the party’s leadership.

The internal memo, obtained by this masthead, also included an expressionof-interest form for those who wanted to debate policies on the conference floor.

NSW Left MP Anthony D’Adam said he had never seen rules excluding proxies, such as himself, and observers at previous party conferences. The leading anti-AUKUS campaigner said it was crucial for his faction to be brave and push for ambitious policies to counter the growing threat posed by the Greens.

Keep reading about the issue here.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says while the deal struck at national cabinet to build 1.2 million homes sounds good, the homes may not get built.

Dutton spoke this morning at Penrith Community Kitchen in western Sydney about the target, which was announced yesterday.

“Increasing it to 1.2 million might sound good, and the prime minister might be talking a big game, but the prime minister never delivers,” he told reporters.

Dutton said Labor had claimed in October 2022 it wanted to build 1 million homes initially, but that target wasn’t going to be reached.

“The trouble is that figures don’t mean anything under this prime minister,” he said.

“And as we’ve seen in relation to other issues, he just doesn’t get across the detail. He makes the announcement, but there’s no delivery.”

Dutton said investors were considering whether investing in housing remained safe.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joined MP Melissa McIntosh at a community kitchen in Penrith this morning to speak about the economy and cost of living.

Watch his remarks here:

Telstra has bumped up its dividend after posting a 13 per cent jump in full-year 2023 net profit to $2.1 billion.

Telstra CEO Vicky Brady said the company’s booming mobile business had powered its results even as it tackled softer conditions for its Enterprise fixed unit, which offers services to businesses and big organisations.

The company has increased prices on mobile and fixed broadband plans, with more hikes expected.

The telco giant will pay a fully franked final dividend of 8.5 cents per share, bringing total dividends for the year to 17 cents, a 3 per cent increase on the prior corresponding period.

Brady added that lifting customer service remained Telstra’s biggest challenge in the new financial year, with the telco on track to deliver total income for the period to land between $22.8 billion and $24.8 billion, and underlying earnings of $8.2 billion to $8.4 billion.

Cost-cutting also remains firmly on Brady’s agenda despite economic headwinds.

“While our cost reduction ambition is being challenged by high inflation, we still expect to achieve the large majority of this by FY25,” she said.

“We remain absolutely committed to delivering our FY25 underlying EBITDA and EPS growth ambitions.”

Leading Voice to parliament campaigner Megan Davis has responded to claims from independent senator Lidia Thorpe that some people were excluded from the Uluru dialogues.

Davis told RN Breakfast this morning that was not the case.

“Lidia Thorpe participated in the Uluru dialogues, she was at the Melbourne dialogue ... she was at the national convention as well where she famously walked out, so she wasn’t excluded from that process,” Davis said.

The claim came during Thorpe’s address to the National Press Club yesterday, where she called for the Voice to parliament referendum to be called off.

But Davis said the time was right for a referendum, with plenty of support in the community despite some polls: “We are seeing an overwhelming sentiment of goodwill and support for the referendum.”

But she said there were many parts of the community who were undecided or considered to be “soft Yes” voters, because of misinformation being spread about the Voice.

She said there was a “lot of confusion” about the disinformation that was being “passively promoted”.

“Australians aren’t getting the information that they need to have a fully informed vote and ... the landscape is really cluttered by this misinformation, disinformation that is prosecuting kind of outright lies and it’s just not getting any pushback.”

Adam Bandt doesn’t believe the Voice to parliament referendum should be cancelled, after former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe called for it to be called off.

Thorpe, who left the party over its stance on the Voice and became an independent, criticised the referendum as divisive in a speech yesterday.

But Bandt, who is the leader of the Greens, didn’t support the call.

“We’re campaigning really strongly for a Yes vote, a Yes vote is an important step towards First Nations’ justice in this country.”

He said if there was a No result, it would take Australia away from justice for First Nations people and make it harder to get other reforms passed.

Staying with the Greens leader, who says there is “nothing for renters” after the national cabinet meeting yesterday.

“There’s nothing for renters in this package which is incredibly disappointing,” Adam Bandt told ABC radio this morning.

He said he was frustrated because the Greens had been bending over backwards to negotiate with the government for rent caps.

RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas asked his thoughts about analysts who said rental controls wouldn’t work to help the crisis.

“That’s not right,” he said in response. “If you have a big build of public housing, together with capping rents, then it works for renters.”

Bandt said government needed to step in and that a form of rent control is needed across the country.

The Greens leader was asked whether he welcomed the national cabinet’s deal to limit rent increases to once a year.

“In most places around the country, it’s already limited to once a year ... it’s either once a year or they’re moving towards that. It’s little more than a status quo.”

“An unlimited rent rise is still an unlimited rent rise.”

He also said the Greens had been pushing for implementing a ban on rental bidding and options for better short-stay regulation.

“A number of those things we’ve been pushing for a while, and they’ve agreed in the national cabinet agenda, well, a lot of it is weasel words.”

“They’re looking at considering, maybe, doing it at some point, they talk about minimum rental standards with no timeline.”

He said there were “a lot of loopholes” around the decision to end “no-grounds” evictions.