dailynewsnblog
Australian World Cup official denies he intentionally made hand gesture
Australian Shaun Evans has denied he intentionally made a hand gesture used by white supremacists in a clip of the VAR officials prior to Germany’s match against Curacao match on Sunday, Press Association reports.
Evans appeared to make an upside down “OK” symbol with his right hand as the broadcast feed cut to the “meet the team” section for the VARs before kick-off.
The gesture is used in the completely harmless “circle game”, but has also been used by far-right supporters and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added it to a list of hate symbols in 2019.
Fifa is understood to be aware of the incident and seeking answers from Evans as to why he made the gesture, although the governing body subsequently said no evidence of any disciplinary code breaches had been established.
Evans released a statement this morning, saying:
I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind.
The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.
The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested.
Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.
Key events
Australian World Cup official cleared by Fifa
Australian video assistant referee (VAR) Shaun Evans has been cleared by Fifa of any wrongdoing after saying he did not intentionally make a hand gesture used by white supremacists.
AAP reports Evans made an upside down “OK” symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg. It was interpreted by some as a reference to the “circle game” but others believed Evans had made a gesture referencing white supremacy.
Fifa found Evans had not breached its disciplinary code.
“FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee can confirm that, after looking into the matter involving support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, it has found no evidence of breaches of the FIFA disciplinary code,” the game’s governing body said in a statement.
The disciplinary committee has also taken note of Mr Evans’ statement.
As we reported in the blog earlier, Evans said he did not make the gesture intentionally, saying it was an “involuntary, subconscious twitch”.
Australia Post reports 1,200 dog-related incidents for posties in first half of 2026
Australia Post issued a renewed call for people to secure their dogs after reporting more than 1,200 dog-related incidents affecting its posties over the last six months, an average of 9 incidents a day.
The agency said that figure is a 5% increase on the same period last year, which raises serious concerns about the safety of its frontline workers. New South Wales is the worst offender, accounting for more than a third of all cases.
Russell Munro, the general manager of safety for AusPost, said in a statement:
Posties encounter multiple dogs every day while delivering, and some can pose a real safety risk. What seems like a routine delivery can quickly escalate, and our posties can’t predict how a dog may react, regardless of breed or temperament.
Posties are now equipped with citronella spray as a last line of defence measure, a non-toxic effort to briefly distract dogs. Munro added:
If you’re expecting a delivery, make sure your dog is securely contained in another room, behind a locked gate or safely restrained. If you’re unable to do so, we encourage customers to consider using a 24/7 free and convenient parcel locker as a safer alternative.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Butler defends NDIS changes
Asked directly on Sunday if people would die as a consequence of the changes, the health minister, Mark Butler, said: “No, they won’t.”
He told ABC’s Insiders program:
The NDIS is probably the most significant social reform this country has made since Medicare in the 80s. It’s transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians for the better and I completely understand why they’re desperately concerned to hang on to that reform. I’m desperately concerned to do that as well but the truth is the NDIS has got way off track.
It’s worth noting that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, are members of the Labor left faction in New South Wales.
Labor’s youth wing lashes government’s ‘harmful’ NDIS changes
Dan Jervis-Bardy
A branch of Labor’s youth wing warned the Albanese government’s planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) “will cost lives” and should be halted.
In its submission to a Senate inquiry into the changes, Young Labor Left New South Wales argued that the proposal framed people with disabilities as “financial burdens”.
The submission has been published online ahead of the scheduled release of the inquiry’s final report on Tuesday.
More than 240,000 participants are expected to be forced off the scheme by 2031 under contentious changes designed to contain the ballooning cost of the $50bn-a-year disability program.
The government also wants to slash the stream of funding that participants use to hire support workers to allow them to engage with the community, in a move advocates warn will lead to more isolation and segregation.
The inquiry’s public hearings last week heard from several witnesses who feared that participants would die as a result of the changes, which are intended to save $38bn over four years.
The Young Labor members echoed those warnings in their written submission:
Young Labor Left NSW is deeply opposed to this Bill. We consider the Bill, in its current form, harmful to the disabled community and should not be passed. The reckless removal of support will cost lives.
Young Labor Left NSW is not opposed to reforming the NDIS and measures to safeguard the integrity of the NDIS. However, the Bill in its current form seeks to bar and remove people from accessing the NDIS as a cost-saving measure. The framing of people with disabilities as financial burdens that must be alleviated for the sustainability of the scheme is deeply dehumanising and erodes the trust the community has in the Government to safeguard and the rights and dignity of the disabled community.
Kelly Burke
Family reels from ‘tragic situation’ as Coogee shark attack victim loses arm
The family of the woman critically injured in Saturday’s horrific shark attack at Coogee beach is still coming to terms with the catastrophic scope of her injuries and the heartbreaking impact on her toddler.
Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, mother and dedicated ocean swimmer, remained on life support in the intensive care unit at St Vincent’s hospital after being mauled by a suspected 3.5-metre great white shark.
“It’s such a tragic situation,” her older brother Joshua Stewart told the Guardian.
Leah is so full of life, she’s so energetic, she loves the ocean, she was a keen swimmer, she was swimming in the flags, really close to the shore when it happened on a crystal-clear Saturday morning. She’d done all the right things.
He confirmed Leah had undergone an arm amputation and remained in a critical condition, with the family bracing for further possible life-altering news regarding injuries to her legs.
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
Victorian Labor’s new laws to force opposition to show their hand on work from home rights
Last year, the Victorian premier announced that her government would legislate the right to work from home two days a week for those who can “reasonably” do so. She has said the plan would boost productivity via increasing participation of women, particularly new mothers, in the workforce.
The policy was also designed to wedge the opposition after the issue became a flashpoint in the 2025 federal election campaign, when Peter Dutton was forced to back down on a policy to restrict work-from-home arrangements for public servants due to backlash.
Opposition leader, Jess Wilson, has refused to outline the Coalition’s position on the bill until the legislation is introduced to parliament. Now they will be forced to show their hand.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Australian politics now contest of ‘practical versus populist’, Labor MP will say
Australian politics is now defined by a contest of “practical versus populist”, according to a Labor MP who claims his party are the only ones left in the sensible centre.
The assistant minister to the prime minister, Patrick Gorman, will use a speech to the McKell Institute on Tuesday to argue that the domestic political landscape is no longer shaped by a divide between left and right.
Gorman will lump the Liberals, Nationals and the Greens in the same category as One Nation, accusing all four parties of pursuing populism over practical policy solutions.
He will argue that Labor, in contrast, is the “only practical party of the centre remaining in Australian politics”.
The Perth MP will say:
The other thing populism does is create a wall of noise behind which unpopular policies are hidden. These parties are loud on populism and then quiet on their true agenda.
The comments follow a string of national opinion polls that show One Nation is now ahead of Labor, making it the most popular party in the country.
As we reported last week, Labor has begun targeting Pauline Hanson’s record of opposing cost-of-living relief for workers as it attempts to stall One Nation’s momentum.
Australian World Cup official denies he intentionally made hand gesture
Australian Shaun Evans has denied he intentionally made a hand gesture used by white supremacists in a clip of the VAR officials prior to Germany’s match against Curacao match on Sunday, Press Association reports.
Evans appeared to make an upside down “OK” symbol with his right hand as the broadcast feed cut to the “meet the team” section for the VARs before kick-off.
The gesture is used in the completely harmless “circle game”, but has also been used by far-right supporters and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added it to a list of hate symbols in 2019.
Fifa is understood to be aware of the incident and seeking answers from Evans as to why he made the gesture, although the governing body subsequently said no evidence of any disciplinary code breaches had been established.
Evans released a statement this morning, saying:
I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind.
The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.
The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested.
Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.
Gallagher on One Nation: ‘Opinion polls will come and go’
Katy Gallagher was also asked about the surge in One Nation, saying there was an obvious “reorganisation on the conservative side of politics”.
The finance minister said she wouldn’t comment too deeply on opinion polls, but the Labor government had attempted to address broad concerns from Australians with its latest budget.
She said:
I think there is a lot of uncertainty and worry about events that are happening across the world, the impact that has here. Cost of living is the No 1 issue with anyone you talk to right now, and the government just has to remain focused on that, and that’s what we intend to do.
Opinion polls will come and go, they do. Our job is to make sure we’re making the right decisions for the right time and that it’s focused on the Australian people. And when there’s controversy about that, and we know we’ve had a lot of feedback around the budget, you know, our job is to front up and explain why we’ve taken those decisions.
Finance minister says fuel excise cut always meant to be ‘temporary’
Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, has said the cut to the fuel excise was always meant to be temporary but confirmed the government is still monitoring oil prices despite a preliminary deal for a ceasefire between the US and Iran.
Gallagher spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the government welcomed the end to the conflict in the Middle East. She said of any extension to the fuel excise cut:
It was meant to be a temporary relief during this conflict.
We know that there will be a tail to this conflict in terms of how that impacts on prices and households remains to be seen. So, this is something I think the PM said yesterday [that] we keep under consideration. And if we make a decision that changes, that will be relayed to people.
The finance minister said the government wanted to help people deal with “sharp hits” to the household budget, hence the cut over the last three months. The temporary relief is set to expire at the end of June.
We’re monitoring events in the Middle East and what’s happening with the price of petrol, and if there, you know, if there’s anything to add to this, I’m sure we’ll do so in good time.
NSW to spend $100m on large-scale battery projects
Adam Morton
The NSW government says it will spend $100m on four large-scale batteries in Sydney, Newcastle and on the central coast to help ensure grid reliability as coal-fired power stations shut.
It is the inaugural investment by the NSW Energy Security Corporation, which was created by the Labor state government two years ago to help renewable energy projects get off the ground.
The funding is promised to help support the construction of 500 megawatts of storage by early 2029, when the large Eraring coal-fired power plant is scheduled to close.
Another 150MW is promised later that year. The government said work on the first battery, at Steel River industrial estate in Newcastle, is expected to start next month.
The state minister for climate change and energy, Penny Sharpe, said:
Large-scale batteries are revolutionising NSW’s energy grid, delivering greater energy security and helping to drive down prices.
RBA board expected to leave interest rates on hold today
Luca Ittimani
The Reserve Bank is expected to leave its official interest rate on hold at 4.35% when its rate-setting board wraps up its meeting this afternoon, as the Australian economy weakens.
After three back-to-back rate rises in 2026, economists at most major banks have forecast the RBA will not deliver another increase today. Unemployment has picked up to 4.5% and household spending is weakening, likely to be weighed further in Melbourne and Sydney by house price falls.
Financial markets on Monday were betting there was no chance rates would rise today. Traders have priced in just half of a rate rise by December, implying they believe a hike by then is no certainty but more likely than not.
Taylor Nugent, senior economist at NAB, said analysts would be watching the wording of the RBA’s announcement. Nugent predicted the RBA will not rule out another hike because inflation is still uncomfortably high, at 4.2% in May.
The RBA will announce its decision at 2.30pm Sydney time and its governor, Michele Bullock, will explain the board’s thinking at 3.30pm.
Good morning
It’s Nick Visser here to pick up the blog. Let’s get to it.
Superannuation industry underinvested in renewable energy, advocacy group says
Australia’s superannuation industry is underinvested when it comes to the nation’s renewable energy transition, an environmental advocacy group claims.
The 30 largest super funds directly contributed $771m of the $99bn invested in Australian clean energy projects since 2020, roughly 0.03% of the $2.5tn in retirement savings managed by those funds, a Market Forces report shows, as reported by Australian Associated Press.
Local and foreign commercial banks provided more than half the cash flowing to Australian renewable projects, followed by developers and operators, government agencies and public authorities.
Canadian pension funds directly invested $408m more in Australian renewable energy projects over the period than the top-30 funds, said report author and Market Forces Australian campaigns head Brett Morgan.
Just six of the top-30 super funds had direct investments in Australian renewable energy or battery storage projects: Aware Super, Cbus, HESTA, NGS Super, Prime Super and Rest.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian law set to enshrine right to WFH
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will today introduce legislation to parliament to guarantee the right to work from home two days a week, including for part-time workers and regular casuals.
As the government previously flagged, the bill will enshrine the right to work from home in the Equal Opportunity Act. If passed, it will take effect on 1 September, though there is a delayed commencement of 1 July 2027 for workplaces with fewer than 15 employees.
A new detail, however, is that regular casual and part-time workers will be covered by the new laws. The government said guidance on how pro-rata entitlements will work will be released before commencement.
The law provides a pathway for dispute resolution and enforcement – first via the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and then the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if conciliation fails.
Allan said:
Work from home works for families, it saves time and money and it gets more parents working. That’s why we’re protecting work from home in law.
Sarah Basford Canales
Outside parliament yesterday, Juliet Lamont, an Australian film-maker who has accused Israeli authorities of abuse, said Wong reiterated she believed the group’s allegations.
You couldn’t hear [a] pin drop in there. It was harrowing. It was acutely emotional. Every woman that was there, and I think it was maybe 10, they all believed us and came up to us at the end and thanked us for sharing our harrowing testimony, said that we were really brave and want to support us in the investigations.
Israel has denied allegations of mistreatment, claiming all prisoners and detainees were held “in accordance with the law”.
Melbourne student Gemma O’Toole said federal police had committed to taking the group’s testimonies, so “that is a process that we will be actioning as soon as possible”.
From there, they [federal police] will be going to Israel to try and get forensic evidence to try and get them to take part in the investigation, which you know they’re not hopeful will happen, and obviously we’re expecting not to happen, and that’s where that will stand … It’s been weeks that we’ve been back. You would have expected that they [the AFP] would’ve wanted this information from us. No, but here we are.
Police to investigate Gaza flotilla activist allegations
Sarah Basford Canales
The Australian federal police will begin conducting “inquiries” into abuse and sexual assault allegations made against Israeli authorities by Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla after meeting Penny Wong yesterday afternoon.
The AFP confirmed it had met members in the group at Parliament House and “has begun inquiries into allegations made by a representative of the group”.
Guardian Australia understands a report of crime has not yet been formally submitted, which would trigger a formal look into the allegations they were abused, tortured and, in some cases, sexually assaulted by Israeli authorities while detained after attempting to deliver aid to the occupied Palestinian territory.
Wong, the multicultural affairs minister, Anne Aly, and senior AFP officers met the group to “listen to them directly about their experiences”, a spokesperson for Wong said.
The minister has condemned the actions of Israeli authorities and the Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has already sanctioned, the spokesperson said.
She raised the allegations multiple times and made clear directly to Israel that Australia expects an “independent, transparent investigation”.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
The Australian federal police will investigate alleged abuse and sexual assault by Israeli security forces against Australian members of the Global Sumud flotilla, it was announced last night. More coming up.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will today introduce legislation to parliament to guarantee the right to work from home two days a week, including for part-time workers and regular casuals.
Plus, today the Reserve Bank announces its latest decision on which direction interest rates will move: but everyone’s expecting them to stay the same.
