Queensland premier declares end to ‘cannoli diplomacy’ with Albanese over hospital funding

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has declared an end to “cannoli diplomacy” until the state reaches a funding deal with the federal government over hospital funding.

Crisafulli coined the term last year – riffing on the fact both he and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, are of Italian descent – to demonstrate a willingness for his LNP government to work with Labor in Canberra.

But he told the LNP state council meeting on the Gold Coast on Sunday that the relationship was anything but sweet; in fact it had reached a crunch point.

Crisafulli said “access to more beds” is key to addressing issues with the state’s health system, and that currently there were more than 1,100 long-term patients – who he claimed were the federal government’s responsibility – occupying acute care beds.

We need our partner, the commonwealth government, to hold up their end of the bargain.

Sadly the federal government is playing a cruel game at a critical time for our state.

The offer that is currently there falls well short of their 2023 promise for 42.5% funding by 2030 and 45% by 2035.

But most troublingly it’s a deal that abrogates the federal government’s responsibilities. An offer that will leave hundreds of long-stay patients, aged care and younger NDIS patients stranded in Queensland hospitals.

It’s not a deal I’m willing to take. I won’t accept it.

David Crisafulli. Photograph: Darren England/AAPShare

Updated at 21.45 EST

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Otis Filley

Rabbit numbers on Phillip Island reach ‘plague proportions’

Every morning, Peter Bradley and his wife, Vicki, walk around their house to assess the latest damage from rabbits trying to burrow underneath the foundations.

“Everyone’s on edge about it,” the Bass Coast resident says.

“Every time I fix the damage, they try to get under the house again. If you leave it undone, the rabbits get worse and worse.”

Coastal residents face thousands of dollars in damage from the invasive species. Photograph: Otis Filley/The Guardian

Bradley’s daily routine of sweeping up displaced mulch and wire and filling holes has become a grim ritual shared across the picturesque coastal region south-east of Melbourne, where rabbit numbers have exploded to what locals describe as plague proportions.

More in this story from our rural network, here.

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Updated at 21.50 EST

Josh Taylor

ABC chair warns AI could become ‘dangerous and sinister’

The chair of the ABC has warned that AI could become “dangerous and sinister” considering some who finance it hold views that are “extremely autocratic”.

Many of the participants in the financing – and even in the origination and leadership of some of the AI [companies] – have unusually severe views of human organisation and politics, and in some instances … have views that are extremely autocratic, and believe in an anointed few being in charge of the many.

Kim Williams also said that as a believer in democracy and the contest of ideas, it’s “clearly immensely socially dangerous” for people to limit and censor the views of those they disagree with.

We should not underestimate the potency and power of these technologies – and we are seeing living examples of the technologies in the hands of some governments, where we have real life demonstrations of just how dangerous this can be.

Full story here:

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Updated at 21.24 EST

Queensland premier declares end to ‘cannoli diplomacy’ with Albanese over hospital funding

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has declared an end to “cannoli diplomacy” until the state reaches a funding deal with the federal government over hospital funding.

Crisafulli coined the term last year – riffing on the fact both he and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, are of Italian descent – to demonstrate a willingness for his LNP government to work with Labor in Canberra.

But he told the LNP state council meeting on the Gold Coast on Sunday that the relationship was anything but sweet; in fact it had reached a crunch point.

Crisafulli said “access to more beds” is key to addressing issues with the state’s health system, and that currently there were more than 1,100 long-term patients – who he claimed were the federal government’s responsibility – occupying acute care beds.

We need our partner, the commonwealth government, to hold up their end of the bargain.

Sadly the federal government is playing a cruel game at a critical time for our state.

The offer that is currently there falls well short of their 2023 promise for 42.5% funding by 2030 and 45% by 2035.

But most troublingly it’s a deal that abrogates the federal government’s responsibilities. An offer that will leave hundreds of long-stay patients, aged care and younger NDIS patients stranded in Queensland hospitals.

It’s not a deal I’m willing to take. I won’t accept it.

David Crisafulli. Photograph: Darren England/AAPShare

Updated at 21.45 EST

Joe Hinchliffe

BoM’s axing of free flood forecasting ‘potentially deadly consequences’

Natural disaster-prone councils in south-east Queensland say the Bureau of Meteorology’s decision to axe its free real-time flood forecasting tool is a “cost shifting” exercise with “potentially deadly consequences”, with New South Wales emergency services also affected.

For nearly 30 years, the BoM has provided local governments, emergency services and water managers around the country with free access to Enviromon – a tool used to inform emergency alert systems which collects, displays and analyses data from rainfall and river level gauges for flood forecasting.

But the bureau will end ongoing support and maintenance of that service for external users by July and replace it with a US-developed software program called OneRain, which cannot be sublicensed – and so cannot be provided free to councils and other public bodies.

Full story:

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Updated at 21.33 EST

Gastro cases spike in NSW in October

NSW Health has raised concern about an above-average rate of gastroenteritis outbreaks in institutions in the state over the last month.

The department said that while viral gastroenteritis – caused by many different viruses, such as norovirus or rotavirus – is common, there is usually an increase in gastroenteritis cases in September and October each year.

There were 200 outbreaks of gastroenteritis reported from institutional settings – including schools, childcare centres, aged care facilities or detention facilities – in NSW in October 2025, which is higher than the October average of 149 from 2020 to 2024.

Both rotavirus and norovirus were detected in these outbreaks.

NSW Health warned that rotavirus can be particularly severe in young children.

A spokesperson for the department said:

The main treatment for viral gastroenteritis is to rest and drink plenty of fluids. Most people recover without complications, but more urgent care may need to be sought for infants, people with suppressed immune systems, and the elderly, who may experience more serious illness.

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Updated at 19.50 EST

NSW to phase out plastic bread tags and ban helium balloon releases

The NSW government has announced the next stage in its plastics plan, with action to phase out single-use and problematic plastics.

The next phase of the NSW Plastics Plan 2.0 includes:

• phasing out plastic bread tags and pizza savers from late 2027

• phasing out non-compostable plastic fruit and vegetable stickers by 2030

• introducing tethered lids (meaning the cap or lid on a plastic bottle must remain attached to the bottle itself, even after it’s opened) for plastic bottles by 2030

• requiring takeaway food service businesses to accept reusable cups by 2028 and large food service businesses to provide reusable cup options by 2030

• phasing out small condiment containers such as soy sauce fish bottles by 2030 that cannot be recycled

• requiring the redesign of takeaway food containers to ensure they can be recycled safely

• regulating harmful chemical additives in plastic food and beverage packaging to prevent toxins entering soil, water and the food chain

• banning helium balloon releases

The announcement expands on previous action by the NSW government, including bans of lightweight plastic bags, straws, stirrers and single-use cutlery, with the government saying the moves aim to address NSW’s “waste crisis” and address one of the states “biggest environmental challenges”.

Hellium balloon releases are to be banned in NSW. Photograph: EyeEm/AlamyShare

Updated at 19.26 EST

Police commissioner admits ‘communication error’ over Sydney neo-Nazi rally

Back to the neo-Nazi rally targeting Jewish people outside NSW parliament in Sydney on Saturday, my colleague Ben Doherty had this update yesterday.

The NSW premier has said in response to that he would consider giving police more powers to shut down racist and hateful demonstrations.

“It’s likely the case that we need to give police more legislated powers to stop this kind of naked racism and hatred on Sydney streets,” Chris Minns said after the rally.

The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, has said there will be a review of the process by which the rally was allowed to go ahead.

Lanyon said while police had allowed the protest, neither he nor the premier knew it was taking place.

“The government had not been briefed on this process. I take it very personally. There was a communication error in the police force for which I did not personally know that today’s protest was taking place,” Lanyon said.

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Updated at 18.50 EST

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Tehan: Coalition to work with states to extend coal-fired power stations

The shadow energy and emissions reduction minister, Dan Tehan, has signalled the federal opposition will commit to work with state governments to extend the life of coal-fired power stations as part of an energy agenda to be thrashed out this week.

After months of bitter public debate, the Liberal party will hold meetings in Canberra on Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to agree on the pillars of its climate and energy platform – including whether to dump a net zero emissions target.

An agreed position with the Nationals – who have already dumped the net zero target – would be put to the Coalition party room for endorsement on Sunday 16 November.

The Callide coal-fired power station in Queensland. Photograph: Joe Hinchliffe/The Guardian

Sussan Ley is under pressure from senior Liberals to not just dump the 2050 goal set under Scott Morrison but to junk the net zero emissions policy entirely.

Moderates want net zero to be retained in some form, fearful the party could lose more ground in city seats if it abandons the climate target.

Appearing on Sky News agenda on Sunday morning, Tehan would not preempt the outcome of this week’s meetings.

I’m not going to announce this morning what it will be, what I’ll be taking forward because that’s not being respectful to my colleagues. I want to make sure with this that I engage with them in a way that they know that I’m incredibly serious about getting the right policy.

Tehan said the best way to achieve lower energy prices was through “energy abundance”, which he claimed required keeping coal and gas in the system for longer.

He did not rule out taxpayer subsidies for fossil-fuel power generation.

Now what I’m saying is we need to make sure that we’re sweating those coal assets, continue to sweat those coal assets, and also that we can get more gas into the system much more quickly.

The Queensland LNP government’s new energy roadmap, released last month, proposed keeping its state-owned coal plants running for up to a decade longer than previously planned, meaning some would be open until at least 2046.

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Updated at 18.33 EST

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Dumping the words ‘net zero’ is ‘absolutely ridiculous’ – Bragg

The net zero debate has turned into a leadership test for Sussan Ley, who is under pressure for her main rivals Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie to dump the target.

But she’s also under pressure from moderates such as Bragg to not simply fall in line behind the Nationals, who have already abandoned the target.

Asked if Ley’s leadership was finished if she caved to the Nationals, Bragg said:

I don’t believe that we’ll be leaving the Paris agreement. We’re not a fringe party.

Asked again if Ley can survive if the Liberals adopt the Nationals’ policy, Bragg said:

I don’t think you can have a fatwa on two words. I think that’s too silly for words, frankly. And I think at the end of the day, this is the international standard on decarbonisation. So Australia cannot sit out of its own international standard.

Speers keeps pushing Bragg on what it means if the words “net zero” are dropped from the policy entirely.

You can’t have a fatwa on two words. I mean, it’s ridiculous. This is the international standard. I mean, trying to pretend you’re not going to say two words is absolutely ridiculous.

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Updated at 18.02 EST

Liberal senator Bragg can’t see Australia leaving Paris agreement

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Andrew Bragg is repeatedly pushed on Insiders on what a decision to dump net zero and leaving the Paris agreement would mean for his own future on the shadow frontbench.

He doesn’t think things will get to that point because he can’t imagine Australia is going to allow itself to be lumped with Azerbaijan, Iran and Syria in sitting outside the Paris pact.

Well, I just don’t believe that that’s going to happen. I don’t think it is within the realm of the possible.

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Host David Speers asks again if Bragg would quit the frontbench if the party dumped net zero and abandoned Paris.

Well, sure, but I don’t imagine we will ever leave Paris. We are not fringe dwellers. Most Australians want us to play our fair role in terms of reduction, so I just don’t think we are going to be leaving the Paris agreement.

(A quick point of clarification here: There is no serious talk that a future Coalition government would pull Australia out of the Paris agreement, the international treaty that aims to limit global warming to 1.5C. Even the Nationals – who are dumping net zero – say they are committed to Paris.)

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Updated at 18.29 EST

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Liberals must ‘maintain a commitment to do a better job on net zero’ – Bragg

The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg is up on ABC Insiders ahead of a crunch week of meetings to determine the Coalition’s position on net zero emissions.

The shadow housing minister is among a group of moderate Liberals fighting to salvage the party’s commitment to the climate target, as conservatives push Sussan Ley to dump the policy entirely.

Bragg is asked to respond to his colleague Sarah Henderson’s insistence that the party should abandon net zero completely.

Unsurprisingly, he disagrees:

The Australian people are worried about climate change and so are we, and that’s why I would have thought that the most reasonable position here would be to stay in [the] Paris [agreement], maintain a commitment to do a better job on net zero and maintain a goal, because I think if you have anything less than that, then you are giving up on the idea that you will try and reduce emissions for future generations and after all, we are the trustees for future generations.

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Updated at 17.40 EST

Greens condemn Sydney neo-Nazi rally

The NSW Greens have called for a new approach from NSW police and the premier, Chris Minns, after a neo-Nazi rally overtly targeting Jewish people was allowed to go ahead in Sydney on Saturday morning.

Greens MP Sue Higginson said on Saturday:

The Greens abhor antisemitism and racism and I was sickened to see neo-Nazis outside the NSW parliament today. The Greens condemn the actions and the rhetoric of these depraved racists. The Jewish community and people of colour in our state should not be subjected to this on our streets or news feeds.

NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Higginson said tougher laws on protests wouldn’t work this time, and that Minns “needs to deal with the actual issue”.

It’s time to set up a taskforce to work with the NSW police engagement and hate crime unit and the counter-terrorism command, and deal with the rise of the far right and racism in this state head on.

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Updated at 18.54 EST

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the goings-on this Sunday 9 November.

Princess Anne, sister to King Charles, touched down in Australia on Saturday for a royal visit.

Anne arrived in Sydney and laid a wreath at a memorial service. She is expected to attend Remembrance Day services and centenary events in Sydney and Brisbane.

Her visit comes less than a fortnight after the king stripped their brother Andrew of his title of prince.

The NSW Greens have condemned a neo-Nazi rally targeting Jewish people held in Sydney yesterday, which was allowed to go ahead outside NSW parliament.

The Greens have called for a new approach from NSW police and the premier in the wake of the event.

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Updated at 17.53 EST