Australian aviation giant Qantas is once again at the center of industrial controversy, as reports emerge that the company is considering cutting or offshoring up to 1,000 back-office roles to India amid a company-wide push to integrate artificial intelligence into core operations. The airline has confirmed it is in early-stage consulting discussions with global professional services firm Accenture around an initiative dubbed Project iQ, which focuses on optimizing operational workflows through expanded AI adoption. A final decision on restructuring roles across marketing, finance, human resources and other corporate support departments is expected to be finalized by the end of 2024. In a statement to NewsWire, a Qantas spokesperson emphasized the company’s goal of modernizing work processes to improve outcomes for both customers and employees, noting that no formal partnership agreement or final restructuring decisions have been reached to date. The company also pushed back on criticism of its employment strategy, pointing to thousands of new operational roles added across Australia in recent years, as well as a new 400-position technology hub currently being developed in Adelaide. The airline is set to release its full-year 2024 financial results in late August, after reporting a largely flat first-half performance that delivered a statutory after-tax profit of $925 million – a marginal $2 million increase compared to the same period in 2023. The proposed restructuring has drawn sharp condemnation from the Australian Services Union (ASU), which has warned it will mount a vigorous campaign to protect every at-risk position. ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowan called for urgent direct talks with Qantas Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson on Tuesday, noting that the airline has given public assurances that no Australian roles will be offshored. “If that commitment turns out to be empty, it will not just be a broken promise to our union – it will be a profound breach of trust with the Australian public, which stood by this airline through every crisis it has faced,” Cowan said. This is not the first time the union has had to seek formal guarantees from Qantas that AI integration will not be used as justification for layoffs, Cowan added, calling on the airline to use new AI tools to augment its skilled workforce rather than cut roles. The controversy also renews scrutiny of Qantas’ long history of outsourcing and offshoring, including a high-profile illegal layoff during the COVID-19 pandemic. In that case, Qantas outsourced 1,800 to 2,000 ground handling roles to third-party contractors, a move that Australian courts ultimately ruled unlawful. The company was ordered to pay a $90 million fine for the violation, making the current proposed cuts a particularly sensitive issue for both the union and the traveling public.
作者： admin
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Did Iran hack water systems in seven US states?
Last week, a sudden coordinated cyberattack targeting more than 30 public water systems in the U.S. state of Minnesota sent shockwaves across national cybersecurity circles, catching many officials and analysts by surprise. Within days, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that similar malicious cyber activity had been detected across seven U.S. states, with some of these intrusions successfully disrupting core water treatment and distribution operations.
According to anonymous U.S. media sources, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched an investigation into a potential link between the Minnesota breaches and Iranian actors, though CISA has declined to issue any public comment on the ongoing probe. While former President Donald Trump has not publicly placed blame on Iran for the attacks, multiple cybersecurity experts interviewed by the BBC have assessed that Tehran is the most likely sponsor of the operation.
Morgan Wright, a former U.S. State Department counterterrorism advisor, told the BBC that cyber intrusions of this nature targeting U.S. critical infrastructure are most commonly traced to either North Korean or Iranian actors. “Given our current ongoing geopolitical conflict with Iran, they immediately rise to the top of the list: they have both the capability to carry out this attack and a clear motive to do so,” Wright explained.
However, the BBC’s U.S. partner CBS has noted that investigators are also exploring an alternative theory: that hackers may have intentionally masked their origins to appear Iranian, a deliberate ruse designed to exacerbate existing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran amid the ongoing conflict. Jake Braun, former acting White House Deputy National Cyber Director, pointed out that the Trump administration has been waging its own information campaign amid heightened tensions, meaning it may be unwilling to publicly confirm Iranian involvement even if evidence of such a link is solidified.
The breach has already sparked heated partisan friction in the U.S. Speaking at a cabinet meeting last Friday, Trump, a Republican, blamed the attack on what he called “grossly incompetent” Minnesota state leadership, including Democratic Governor Tim Walz. Walz pushed back swiftly, saying “Trump knows full well who is responsible for this attack, and he is aware that multiple other states across the country have also been targeted.”
To date, Iran has not issued any formal response to the recent allegations, a pattern consistent with its past stance on similar accusations. Tehran has repeatedly denied involvement in a string of cyberattacks targeting U.S. entities over the past decade, ranging from previous water system intrusions and presidential campaign hacks to breaches at U.S. hospitals and a 2014 attack on a Las Vegas casino corporation. After 2016 accusations that Iran targeted a New York-area dam and multiple U.S. banks, then-foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari told state TV that “Iran has never included any malicious cyber activities on its agenda, nor does it support such actions,” and called on the U.S. to provide concrete proof for its claims.
Cybersecurity experts confirm that Iran has a well-documented history of conducting cyber operations against Western targets, and note that many attacks linked to Tehran are carried out by Iran-aligned groups based outside the country, a tactic that creates plausible deniability for the Iranian government. “This makes attribution far more difficult, because even if all the infrastructure and actors trace back to Iran, the regime can always deny any official connection,” Wright explained. “They structure operations this way specifically to avoid leaving direct fingerprints on the activity.”
BBC Verify’s analysis has found that the majority of Iranian-linked cyberattacks targeting the U.S. and Israel this year have been carried out by a hacking collective called Handala. The U.S. Department of Justice has formally tied Handala to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), confirming the group operates on behalf of the Islamic Republic. In the early days of the U.S.-Iran conflict, FBI Director Kash Patel publicly accused Handala of stealing personal information and accessing private emails from U.S. targets. The most recent publicly claimed breach by Handala occurred in mid-June, when the group said it hacked a California water facility in retaliation for a U.S. military strike on Iranian water infrastructure.
Handala has been linked to a string of high-profile breaches in recent years: just this year, the Department of Justice disrupted a Handala operation that targeted a U.S. medical technology firm and leaked sensitive personal data belonging to Israeli government and military officials. In 2024, Iran was accused of hacking U.S. presidential campaign networks to stoke political division, undermine public trust in the U.S. electoral system, and steal sensitive information on government officials. Both 2023 and 2024 saw Cisa confirm that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated hackers targeted U.S. water and wastewater systems, forcing temporary shutdowns of water pressure regulation equipment in two Pennsylvania towns. In 2020, two Iranian nationals were indicted for attempting to interfere in the U.S. presidential election by stealing confidential voter data and sending threatening messages designed to coerce voters into supporting Trump. As early as 2017, Iranian-based hackers were linked to a multi-year ransomware campaign targeting local governments, K-12 schools, healthcare providers, and financial institutions, though Cisa noted at the time that the group’s activities were likely not officially sanctioned by the Iranian government.
Cybersecurity experts emphasize that the most immediate harm from the recent water system breaches is not physical disruption to drinking water supplies, but the erosion of public trust in the government’s ability to secure critical basic services at a time of deep national division over the ongoing Iran conflict. “They are attacking our confidence in public institutions,” Braun explained. That said, experts warn that the risk of future attacks that do endanger public water safety cannot be ignored: malicious actors could manipulate chemical dosages to create harmful drinking water, shut off water service entirely to entire communities, or cause permanent damage to treatment infrastructure, Wright noted.
Cisa and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have repeatedly warned that cyber intrusions represent a serious and growing threat to the nation’s water utilities. The U.S. is home to more than 152,000 public drinking water systems and over 16,000 wastewater treatment facilities, making the attack surface extremely broad. “If you want to cripple a nation, you target two core systems: power and water,” Wright said. He added that a large share of the equipment used in water and wastewater operations remains vulnerable to intrusion, due to decades-old legacy infrastructure and outdated technology that lacks modern security protections.
Unlike most other U.S. critical infrastructure, the vast majority of the nation’s water utilities are publicly operated, meaning securing these systems falls to federal, state, and local governments. Experts warn that without systematic upgrades to cybersecurity defenses across the sector, the U.S. will continue to face this persistent national security threat. Cisa has already issued a series of recommended security upgrades to state and local governments across the country to reduce risk: as an immediate mitigation step, the agency has advised water systems to take public-facing control devices offline as quickly as possible and reset all default or compromised passwords.
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Israel pitched advanced drones to UAE, leaked emails reveal: Report
Fresh details of a secret arms deal negotiation between the United Arab Emirates and Israel have come to light, following a leak of internal emails from Israel’s largest defense contractor, Elbit Systems. The correspondence, published for the first time by Haaretz and Drop Site News, lays bare how Abu Dhabi accelerated push for the purchase of Israeli intelligence and surveillance drones just weeks after a deadly cross-border attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement in early 2022.
The hacked emails, which cover a period from 2021 through the start of 2023, outline early discussions between Elbit Systems and UAE parties over a package of Israeli defense technology. The proposed deal includes Hermes 900 reconnaissance drones, SkyEye wide-area surveillance sensors, ground control infrastructure, as well as personnel training and long-term logistical support. According to the leaked documents, the entire transaction was reclassified as an “urgent priority” immediately after the January 17, 2022 Houthi missile and drone assault on Abu Dhabi that targeted key infrastructure including oil tanker facilities and Abu Dhabi International Airport.
The cache of executive emails was obtained by Handala, an anonymous online hacking group that open-source intelligence researchers claim has ties to the Iranian government. Both Haaretz and Drop Site News independently verified the authenticity of the documents before publishing their reporting. Initial projections valued the core drone deal at $154 million, with optional system upgrades pushing the total projected contract value to $225 million. To date, the leaked correspondence offers no confirmation on whether the ordered drones and systems have been delivered to the UAE.
To understand the scope of the technology on offer, the SkyEye surveillance system integrates high-resolution electro-optical cameras that allow aircraft to capture vast swathes of territory in real time. Footage captured by the system can be reviewed from multiple vantage points, enabling operators to trace moving objects and personnel back to their point of origin. The Hermes 900, Elbit’s flagship medium-altitude long-endurance drone, is designed for advanced reconnaissance and surveillance missions, with a maximum payload capacity of 990 pounds. Multiple defense industry reports note the platform can also be configured to carry up to eight surface-to-air missiles for offensive operations.
Internal correspondence shows that just two months after the 2022 Houthi attack, a senior leader from the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s arms development directorate traveled to Abu Dhabi to present a formal proposal for the Hermes 900 sale. The proposal framed the drones as a critical operational solution to extend cross-border surveillance capabilities, specifically to detect incoming missile and drone launches before they reach UAE territory.
The emerging drone deal negotiations come against a backdrop of rapidly warming bilateral defense ties between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, which date back to the 2020 Abraham Accords. Brokered by the first Trump administration, the normalization agreement between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco was explicitly positioned as a framework to deepen security and defense cooperation across the region. This new leak confirms long-held analyst assessments that cutting-edge Israeli defense technology has been a key driver of growing security partnerships between Israel and Gulf Arab states.
Beyond the core Hermes 900 and SkyEye package, the emails also include passing references to two additional Elbit Systems products: the SkyStriker loitering munition – more commonly known as a “suicide drone” – and the smaller Hermes 650 reconnaissance drone. Today, the UAE stands as one of Israel’s closest partners in the Arab and Muslim world, and has joined Israel and the United States in a series of coordinated military strikes targeting Iranian assets across the Middle East in recent months. As early as May of this year, Middle East Eye first reported that Israel and the UAE had launched a joint defense investment fund to develop and acquire new advanced weapons systems, amid escalating regional tensions with Iran.
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As Colombia prepares for presidential inauguration, outgoing leader doubles down on fraud claims
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – As Colombia prepares to swear in its newly elected conservative head of state this week, outgoing President Gustavo Petro has doubled down on unproven allegations of widespread electoral fraud in the country’s June presidential vote, where his party’s candidate lost by a narrow margin to conservative Abelardo de la Espriella.
During a 60-minute address to reporters on Monday, Petro laid out his claims that programmers manipulated data from thousands of vote tally sheets after preliminary results were transmitted to the headquarters of Colombia’s National Registrar, the government body tasked with overseeing the country’s electoral processes.
These fraud accusations have already been thoroughly rejected by both international election monitoring missions and Colombia’s independent electoral authorities. In late June, officials formally certified de la Espriella’s victory, confirming he defeated Petro’s close ally Ivan Cepeda by roughly 250,000 votes. The president-elect is set to begin his four-year term this Friday, when he will be inaugurated during a joint session of Colombia’s Congress.
Petro, a lifelong opponent of Colombia’s traditional political establishment who has never accepted the June election results, went further in Monday’s remarks, accusing electoral bodies of running an “obscure” process manipulated by foreign actors. He also claimed officials failed to release key metadata for scanned tally sheets published on a public portal that allows voters to verify results at every individual polling station.
“We are facing a profound institutional problem,” Petro told the assembled press. “And it’s the inauguration of an illegitimate president.”
Under current Colombian law, Petro has no legal pathway to block de la Espriella’s inauguration, as the conservative candidate’s victory has already been formally validated by electoral courts. However, political analysts warn that Petro’s repeated fraud claims could erode public trust in the incoming administration among a segment of Colombian voters and deepen already severe political divides across the country.
Cepeda, Petro’s defeated candidate, has already announced plans to hold a series of nationwide protests against the new president. He has stated he will not recognize de la Espriella’s authority until the incoming leader meets a set of demands, including renouncing his dual United States citizenship.
Earlier on Monday, Petro, a former member of a Colombian rebel group, also called on rural communities across the country to form local committees he labeled “liberation guards,” which he said would resist actions by military units he claims are aligned with local criminal mafia networks.
Andres Macias, a political science professor at Bogota’s Externado University, warned that Petro’s rhetoric could have dangerous consequences for conflict-affected regions of Colombia, where tensions already run high between state military forces, drug trafficking organizations and leftover rebel factions. Macias said the outgoing president’s comments could effectively “justify the use of weapons by civilians” in these already volatile areas.
Petro also shared concerns about his own future after leaving office, when he will transition to leading the country’s main opposition bloc and continue pressing his fraud claims. He stated he fears he could be forced out of Colombia once he steps down.
“I’ve been told to behave well,” Petro said. “But as a democrat I cannot accept this electoral fraud.”
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Trapped by war, Bangladesh seafarer recounts Gulf ordeal
After surviving a 115-day ordeal stranded in the volatile Gulf waters amid escalating regional conflict, 51-year-old Bangladeshi ship captain Mohammad Shafiqul Islam has returned home to share his harrowing experience of leading 31 crew members through near-constant missile attacks, resource shortages, and blocked shipping lanes.
As captain of the bulk carrier *Banglar Joyjatra*, chartered by a Singapore-based firm, Islam arrived in the Gulf region in January 2024, one month ahead of the outbreak of open hostilities between the US-Israel alliance and Iran in February. The conflict quickly paralyzed the Strait of Hormuz, the economically critical chokepoint through which nearly 20% of the world’s daily oil trade passes, and Iranian attacks repeatedly targeted commercial shipping traffic across the Gulf.
In an exclusive interview with AFP from his home in Cumilla, eastern Bangladesh, Islam laid out the sequence of events that trapped his vessel. After loading 39,000 tonnes of steel coils at Qatar’s Mesaieed Port, the *Banglar Joyjatra* reached the outer anchorage of the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali Port on February 26. Even before the first strike, the captain recalled an unnerving, ominous tension hanging over the water. That tension erupted in the early hours of February 28, when a missile slammed into an oil storage facility just 200 meters from the anchored bulk carrier, engulfing the tanks in raging flames that tugboats fought for hours to contain.
Bangladesh’s ambassador to the UAE urged Islam to evacuate his crew immediately, but the veteran captain made the risky decision to remain aboard, clinging to hope that the regional situation would de-escalate quickly. Instead, more missile strikes followed. In the chaos of the attacks, the ship’s electronic navigation system failed, forcing Islam to fall back on decades-old skills to manually plot the vessel’s position, using lighthouses to keep the ship anchored safely.
When attacks slowed a few days later, the *Banglar Joyjatra* unloaded its cargo and received orders to sail east through the Strait of Hormuz. By that point, however, Iran had effectively blockaded the key waterway. Just 25 nautical miles off Hormuz, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps turned the vessel away, blocking it from proceeding. Repeated attempts to cross the strait over the following weeks ended with the same result, leaving the ship stranded offshore with dwindling supplies.
As fresh water ran low and food stocks grew thin, Islam implemented strict rationing to stretch supplies for the 31-person crew. He noted that many of the sailors were young, on their first international voyage, and left deeply traumatized by the constant threat of attack. To calm frayed nerves, the captain organized informal support: some crew members found comfort in reciting the Quran for hours each day, while others passed the anxious time on TikTok, trying to distract themselves from the danger surrounding them.
Even after a ceasefire was announced in April, the crew’s ordeal continued: a fresh attempt to cross the strait was still turned away by Iranian authorities. It was not until June 23 that the *Banglar Joyjatra* finally received official permission to traverse the Strait of Hormuz. Only after clearing the waterway did the exhausted crew allow themselves to relax. “We breathed a sigh of relief. God guided us,” Islam said.
The captain added that his family back in Bangladesh had spent months of sleepless nights worrying about the crew, and every time he returns from a long voyage, they urge him to retire from seafaring. But despite the 115 days of fear and uncertainty he just endured, Islam says he has no plans to leave the sea he has spent his career on: “But I have decided to keep sailing for many more years.”
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Pentagon is emailing military experts and asking best way to ‘punish’ Iran: Report
The Trump administration finds itself mired in a diplomatic and military quagmire of its own making over Iran, with new revelations showing the U.S. military is actively crowdsourcing innovative strategies from defense experts to break the prolonged stalemate and force Tehran into a deal favorable to President Donald Trump.
According to a Monday report from CNN, a recent email circulated by an intelligence officer within U.S. Central Command (Centcom) explicitly called for “new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran”, a signal that senior defense officials never anticipated the ongoing conflict would stretch on for as long as it has. While a Centcom spokesperson pushed back on framing the move as unusual, noting the command has a long track record of pursuing innovative problem-solving, the public request for outside ideas underscores the lack of a clear path forward for the White House.
The intermittent, tit-for-tat military escalation between the U.S., Israel and Iran that began in late February has triggered cascading global consequences. In response to the hostilities, Iran moved to close off shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supplies. The closure sent global energy prices soaring, a development that has directly hit the economic interests of Trump’s core voter base ahead of any potential election.
Amid growing regional pressure to de-escalate, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized in a Sunday phone call with Trump the urgent need for dialogue to cool tensions, urging all parties to prioritize a truce that would open the door for negotiated diplomatic solutions.
The situation has been further muddled by conflicting public statements over the status of talks. Last Saturday, Trump announced he had called off planned military strikes against Iran and claimed negotiations between Washington and Tehran would officially kick off on Monday. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump argued that Iran had clear motivation to negotiate: “Obviously, they don’t want to be attacked. Now what we’re doing is we’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.”
But Iranian officials have flatly denied Trump’s claim that bilateral talks are underway. Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, clarified during a press briefing that Tehran is currently holding only “constructive” discussions with Oman, focused on establishing new secure shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. “We are not currently negotiating with the United States. Our negotiations are with Oman to secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Baghaei stated. He added that the status quo in the strait will remain in place as long as the U.S. maintains its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and urged both regional and international powers to respond to Iran’s responsible diplomatic outreach with a constructive approach.
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Betting giants Sportsbet, Tabcorp front inquiry into Albanese reforms
A fiery Senate inquiry into Australia’s planned 2026 gambling reform package has erupted into controversy this week, after leading faith and advocacy figure Reverend Tim Costello tabled explosive allegations against two of the nation’s largest wagering operators, Sportsbet and Tabcorp.
Costello told the upper house committee that a soon-to-be-convicted financial adviser, who stole approximately $12.3 million from his employer over a 17-month period to feed a crippling gambling addiction, was the single biggest high-volume customer for both Sportsbet and Tabcorp. The gambling industry giants allegedly went to extreme lengths to retain the client, flying him to major Australian sporting grand finals, and offering illicit incentives including escorts and drugs to keep him placing bets. Costello added that the client processed more than $20 million in wagering turnover through the platforms each month, and is now behind bars for his crimes, leaving his family devastated.
The allegations drew sharp condemnation from crossbench and opposition senators, who rounded on industry representatives during two days of public hearings. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young slammed the companies for their treatment of at-risk gamblers, arguing that the addicted client had been relentlessly targeted with advertising, promotions, and inducements to keep betting. She pushed back against industry claims that rigorous “know your customer” rules prevent criminal activity, noting that many Australians living with gambling addiction are family members, not stereotypical criminals, and that the issue constitutes a widespread public health crisis.
Independent Canberra Senator David Pocock further criticized the sector, telling representatives that Australians are “sick and tired of the BS” the industry pushes about responsible gambling. Pocock highlighted a recent incident where Sportsbet advertising was served to a user between Disney children’s songs on streaming platform Spotify, arguing that companies repeatedly deflect blame for regulatory failures rather than taking accountability. He displayed photos of children wearing junior sporting jerseys emblazoned with gambling logos, arguing that the industry continues to exploit every regulatory loophole to expose children to gambling harm, and that a full ban on gambling advertising is the only effective solution.
In response to the allegations, senior executives from both companies issued categorical denials. Jules Norton Selzer, Corporate Affairs Director for Sportsbet, told the inquiry there is “zero evidence” to support Costello’s claims, and that the company has zero tolerance for the described deplorable conduct. He added that the company cannot comment on individual customer cases, but would gladly launch a full investigation if provided with supporting evidence. Julian Whealing, Head of Government Affairs for Tabcorp, similarly rejected the claims, stating that the alleged conduct does not align with the company’s commercial practices, and that Tabcorp maintains a zero-tolerance policy for illegal activity. Kai Cantwell, Chief Executive of industry body Responsible Wagering Australia, called the allegations “pretty egregious” and urged that any supporting evidence be referred immediately to law enforcement and regulators for investigation.
Beyond the misconduct allegations, the hearing centered on the sector’s response to the Albanese government’s long-awaited Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026, which the industry claims “goes further than necessary” to achieve the government’s stated goals of reducing gambling harm. While all three industry representatives emphasized their support for evidence-based, practical reform, they argued that key provisions of the bill are unnecessarily broad, legally vague, and operationally unworkable. They called for major refinements to core definitions including wagering, advertising, content, and the classification of “notable persons” featured in promotions.
Industry representatives also warned that overly strict restrictions on licensed Australian operators would push problem gamblers into unregulated offshore wagering markets, which offer far fewer consumer protections and would undermine the entire purpose of the reform package. They pointed to self-regulatory measures adopted by the sector in recent years following the 2023 Murphy review, including a voluntary 70% reduction in free-to-air advertising over five years, the adoption of the national BetStop self-exclusion register, bans on credit card betting, mandatory identity verification, customer deposit limits, and the rollout of real-time technology to identify and intervene with at-risk gamblers. Sportsbet’s Norton Selzer added that extreme restrictions on advertising would also create severe funding disruptions for Australian sport, racing, and public broadcasting, with a disproportionate impact that does not align with the bill’s policy goals.
The inquiry also heard that around 70% of Australian adults participate in legal gambling, that licensed operators contribute approximately $6 billion to national economic activity, and support more than 32,000 full-time jobs across the country.
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Royal Commission told protest left Jewish Australians feeling unsafe in their country
Two days after Hamas launched a deadly cross-border attack on Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people in October 2023, a controversial pro-Palestine protest held on the forecourt of Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House has emerged as a defining case study of rising antisemitism at the country’s ongoing Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The event, which unfolded the same evening the landmark’s signature sails were lit in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag as a gesture of solidarity with Australian Jewish communities, left deep and lasting damage to the group’s sense of physical and psychological security across the nation, senior community leaders told the inquiry.
Witnesses and officials testifying during the seventh tranche of hearings detailed the frightening atmosphere of the 9 October rally, which included explicit antisemitic chants such as “F*** the Jews” and one attendee shouting a threat “I am going to kill them all”. David Ossip, president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, told the commission the demonstration, which saw participants march from Sydney’s Town Hall to the Opera House forecourt, was shockingly insensitive, with many participants openly celebrating the deadly Hamas attack that had killed civilians just two days prior.
Most alarmingly, Ossip told the inquiry, Australian police had advised Jewish residents to avoid the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) entirely during the protest. He described the advisory as an extraordinary step that no other religious or racial group in the country’s history has ever received. “It was effectively the police saying, ‘we can’t keep your community safe’”, Ossip told commissioners. “In my view, it was effectively the police transferring control of the CBD to the protesters, and I thought the matter was very serious.”
Ossip added that police had also urged against any counter-protest, arguing it would inflame tensions. The event upended plans for a peaceful Jewish vigil at the Opera House, where the lighting of the sails had initially been viewed as a comforting gesture of national support in the wake of a traumatic attack. Multiple Jewish workplaces in the CBD even issued internal communications allowing Jewish staff to leave early for their own safety, and the rally fell on a workday when Jewish children were attending school in the city center, compounding fears for their safety.
Richard Lancaster SC, Counsel Assisting the commission, told hearings that the handling of the 9 October protest had left many in the Jewish community with the damaging impression that police prioritized protecting antisemitic demonstrators over their safety. While Lancaster emphasized that peaceful protests are a legitimate exercise of free speech, he clarified that no form of violence, incitement to violence, or racist vilification can be justified under the banner of protest activity.
“Interpersonal violence does not become lawful or acceptable in the context of a protest, incitement to violence and racist vilification does not become lawful or acceptable in the context of a protest,” Lancaster said. “Anti-Semitism does not become acceptable in the context of a protest.”
Lancaster told the commission the 2023 Sydney Opera House protest, alongside a 2025 neo-Nazi demonstration outside the state parliament, stands out as one of the critical events that fueled a documented rise in anti-Jewish hate across Australia. Witnesses have shared other disturbing accounts from recent antisemitic incidents, including instances of the Star of David, the central symbol of Judaism, being thrown into public rubbish bins, and footage of uniformed far-right extremists marching in formation. These events have collectively left a large portion of Australian Jewish communities reporting a permanent loss of the sense of safety they once felt in their own country.
Ossip called the 9 October rally “among the clearest examples of anti-Semitism in recent years”, noting that the event had drawn international condemnation that damaged Australia’s global reputation. The royal commission is continuing to hear evidence on the drivers of antisemitism and gaps in government and law enforcement response to rising hate crime, with further testimony expected in upcoming tranches of hearings.
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‘Stung me’: How 2024 heartbreak resulted in top-secret plan to make Matt King next NSW coach
It was a bitter disappointment for Matt King when he walked away empty-handed from his 2024 bid for the New South Wales Blues State of Origin head coaching job. But that heartbreak has turned into a long-awaited breakthrough, after rugby league officials pulled back the curtain on a top-secret succession plan that had earmarked King as Laurie Daley’s successor from the very start.
The pre-existing blueprint explains how the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) was able to formally name King as Daley’s replacement just 24 hours after the incumbent confirmed he would step down from the role. King has signed a two-year contract with a third-year extension option, ending all speculation that Penrith Panthers mentor Ivan Cleary would take over the top job in 2028. Next year’s State of Origin series will also pit two former Melbourne Storm teammates against one another as rivals: King is set to go head-to-head with Billy Slater, who is widely expected to remain head coach of the Queensland Maroons.
NSWRL chief executive David Trodden laid out the details of the long-term plan during King’s official unveiling to the press on Tuesday morning. “We’ve had this succession plan in place since 2024. We’ve spent every step of that period watching Matt develop and grow as a coach,” Trodden explained. “I share a very close, honest and open relationship with Loz [Daley], so when he decided not to continue, it didn’t come as a major surprise to me. We have had planning in place all along. The plan was always that Matt would take this role because he is the very best person for it – the only thing we needed to do was make small adjustments to our timeline.”
Trodden added that the NSWRL board and its appointment subcommittee reviewed the original 2024 plan and confirmed that sticking to the prearranged strategy remained the right course of action. “Once we signed off, it was just a matter of executing the plan and moving forward. It’s actually a very comfortable feeling being in full control of a process like this. This didn’t happen by accident – it happened because it was carefully planned out,” he said.
For King, the disappointment of 2024 was raw at the time, but he now says the rejection was the best possible outcome for his career. “Total honesty, that decision stung me,” he admitted of his unsuccessful 2024 interview. “I was really desperate for the job then, but you know that old saying – things happen for a reason. I understand the board made the right decision back then, even though I was disappointed. Getting the chance to work alongside Loz for the last couple of years has only helped me develop and grow as a coach. Troddo [David Trodden] is telling the absolute truth when he says they always saw me as the eventual successor.”
King added that Daley retained the option to extend his tenure if the Blues had found success in his final two years in charge. “Troddo is a man of his word, and he kept the promise he made to me a couple of years ago, and I’m really appreciative of that,” he said.
The NSWRL did not interview any other candidates for the head coaching role, a clear sign of the deep organizational trust in King, a former Blues representative who played nine games for his state and won the inaugural Brad Fittler Medal as NSW’s best player in 2005. King has put in a decade of apprenticeship work to prepare for his first senior head coaching role, including 10 years as an assistant coach at the Sydney Roosters, three seasons as a Blues assistant coach, and a stint with the Lebanon national team at the Rugby League World Cup.
In his first message to players eligible to represent NSW, King said he will be tracking candidates across all clubs, and laid out the core traits he wants to see from his squad: players who are tough, play with clear strategic focus, and are prepared to step up in high-stakes moments.
The rookie head coach will not have an easy road ahead, after watching Daley cope with intense public and media pressure over the past two years in charge. But King says he is ready to embrace the weight of expectations. “I am so aware of what’s coming my way, and I’m choosing to sign up for it,” King said, speaking at the press conference alongside his wife and children. He joked that his palms were just as sweaty walking into the announcement as they were when he asked his partner to marry him.
King praised how Daley handled pressure during his tenure, noting that the outgoing coach never pushed stress onto his staff or playing group, absorbing all the pressure himself. “I really admired that, and I realize that absorbing pressure is a massive part of my job,” he said. “It’s a funny thing about pressure. I’ve got the weirdest love-hate relationship with it. We all face pressure at different points in our lives, and every time I’ve gotten through those moments, they’ve turned into some of the greatest moments of my life.”
King will wrap up his current duties as assistant coach with the Roosters by the end of the NRL season, and will officially begin his tenure as Blues head coach on November 1. He thanked a group of senior NRL coaches who unofficially served as his advisory board throughout his journey: Melbourne Storm head coach Craig Bellamy, Cronulla Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire, and Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson – none of whom knew King had given them that unofficial title, but all of whom taught him the core qualities successful players and coaches need. Frank Ponissi will remain on the Blues staff as team performance manager through 2027 to support King, though King will need to hire a new assistant coach to replace him, working alongside existing assistants Boyd Cordner and Brett White.
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Credit Corp shares plummet 15 per cent on full-year results amid US debt spree fears
Australia’s largest debt collection and purchasing firm, Credit Corp, has seen a sharp sell-off of its publicly traded shares after the company’s full-year financial results revealed an aggressive expansion push into the U.S. debt market that has spooked market participants.
Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Credit Corp released its annual earnings report on Tuesday. Even with a solid 12.1% year-over-year jump in full-year profit and a 14% increase in total annual dividends compared to 2023, investor sentiment turned bearish almost immediately after the results hit markets. Within the first hour of trading, the company’s share price dropped 9%, and by midday local time, losses had deepened to 15%. The steep decline stands out against a broader market uptick, with the benchmark ASX 200 hitting a five-month intraday high on the same trading day.
Credit Corp operates across four key markets: Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The firm specializes in two core lines of business: collecting outstanding delinquent debt, and extending lending to consumers who are considered too high-risk to access credit from mainstream banks and large lending institutions. Over the past 12 months, the company’s total lending volume surged 15% to reach AU$510.5 million. In its home region of Australia and New Zealand, annual debt collection revenue grew 4% to AU$260 million, according to the results. The most notable takeaway from the report, however, was the large volume of U.S. debt purchased by the company as part of its international growth strategy.
In comments accompanying the earnings release, Credit Corp chief executive Thomas Beregi addressed ongoing macroeconomic pressures, pointing to the global cost of living crunch while highlighting the company’s strong record on consumer protection. “The impact of elevated costs of living has served to sharpen our focus on ensuring we respond to consumer hardship appropriately and engage respectfully with our customers,” Beregi said. He added that independent reporting from leading Australian financial counselling groups has ranked Credit Corp’s Australian debt purchasing division as the top-performing credit provider for consumer hardship response for three consecutive years. The company also maintains the lowest external dispute resolution complaint rate among large Australian debt buyers, a track record Beregi said the firm would preserve as it expands.
Contrary to widespread concerns about rising consumer defaults amid cost of living pressures, Credit Corp’s financial results show that payment arrears and loan losses have remained within projected forecast levels, even as the company’s total loan book and purchased debt portfolio has expanded. “Arrears and losses remained within pro-forma levels despite the growth in the book and broader macro-economic uncertainty with continued cost-of-living pressures,” the report noted.
Despite these reassuring metrics on consumer default risk, investors have focused heavily on the risks associated with the company’s U.S. debt buying spree. Industry analysts point to a key structural feature of the debt purchasing business that has left investors nervous: returns from newly acquired debt do not materialize until years after the purchase is made. “Debt buying earnings lag purchasing, so this is an FY2028 collections problem,” PAC Partners senior trader James Nicolaou explained in a market note following the earnings release. Nicolaou also noted that the stock had already rallied 25.7% over the three months leading up to the results, leaving it overpriced for an earnings report that failed to beat consensus analyst expectations. He added that earnings per share revisions had already been trending downward before Tuesday’s report.
On a positive note for shareholders, the company declared a fully franked final dividend of 45.5 Australian cents per share. When combined with the earlier interim dividend of 32 cents per share, total annual dividends come in 14% higher than the previous year, outpacing the company’s profit growth for the period.