Month: November 2025

NSW firefighters who are battling skin, lung and other cancers will be better supported after the Minns Labor Government passed landmark laws to expand their medical and income support.

The ‘presumptive cancers’ legislation which passed through Parliament today makes NSW the first jurisdiction in Australia to include two female reproductive cancers as presumptive cancers.

The presumption means firefighters lodging a claim no longer have to prove their cancer was caused by work, which can be difficult due to the nature of how these cancers are contracted and firefighting work.

Under the changes, firefighters’ presumptive access to compensation has been expanded to cover ten additional cancers: primary site lung, pancreatic, thyroid and skin cancers, and female and male reproductive cancers including cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulval and penile.

The inclusion of two female reproductive cancers (vulval and vaginal) as presumptive cancers is a national first and demonstrates the NSW Government’s ongoing efforts to provide equity for male and female first responders.

Under the Workers Compensation Act 1987, there are already 12 primary site cancers that are presumed to be work-related for qualifying firefighters, including leukemia, brain, bladder and kidney cancer, as well as breast, testicular and prostate cancer. The list of existing presumptive cancers also covers non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, oesophageal, colorectal and ureter cancer.

The laws enhance access to workers compensation for firefighters employed by Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Forestry Corporation and other NSW agencies, as well as volunteer firefighters.

All firefighters must serve qualifying periods to be entitled to the presumption. Under the changes, an expert panel will be established to review volunteers’ claims for the additional cancers against a requirement for the firefighter to have regularly engaged in frontline firefighting activity. 

Under the changes, firefighters diagnosed with one of the ten primary site cancers from 6 August 2025 will have the benefit of the presumption.

Firefighters who previously lodged a workers compensation claim that was denied will also be able to lodge a further claim with the benefit of the presumption.

Minister for Emergency Services, Jihad Dib:

“Today is a special day and I am proud of our government’s demonstrable commitment to support firefighters during the most challenging time they will face.

“Firefighters put themselves in harm’s way to keep us all safe. This reform is an important step in making sure they are better supported when they need it most.

“We know a cancer diagnosis is life-changing and can be devastating for firefighters and the people who care about them. These changes mean they will be able to access entitlements with far less stress, so they can focus on their health and their families.

“We are pleased NSW is the first state to recognise two female reproductive cancers as presumptive cancers for firefighters.

“The strong partnership we have with the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union (FBEU), the Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) and Australian Workers Union (AWU) has helped bring about this change and we thank their members and families for their ongoing strong advocacy.”

Minister for Industrial Relations, Sophie Cotsis:

“The Minns Labor Government has worked tirelessly to deliver this important reform. It ensures the firefighters who protect our community can access compensation and support through the presumptive cancer provisions.

“It’s a good time to become a firefighter or a volunteer safe in the knowledge that those who protect the community will in turn be looked after.

“This legislation goes further than other states and territories by including reproductive cancers. 

“By expanding the list of presumptive cancers, we’re recognising the real risks firefighters face on the job and the long latency periods that come with certain cancers.

“I would like to thank the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union (FBEU), the Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) for their ongoing advocacy.”

Secretary of the FBEU, Leighton Drury:

“This result reflects the hard work of professional firefighters who have worked tirelessly with their local members to bring awareness to this issue.

“We are pleased with the broad support for which this bill has achieved.

“The bill goes a long way to acknowledging the inherent risks of the firefighting profession.”

Scott Campbell AFSM, President of the RFSA:

“Volunteer firefighters work at the frontline to keep the community safe from a range of incidents, from bushfire to vehicle and structure fires. RFS volunteers provide fire cover for 95% of NSW, and we thank the government for recognising the value volunteers provide.

“We know that bushfire smoke is a threat to the health of volunteer firefighters. These new laws mean volunteers who unfortunately suffer cancer as a result of their service will be properly covered, including those with claims that were previously declined.

“We thank the government for delivering new laws that improve the protections for volunteer firefighters, and in particular for providing nation-leading coverage for female reproductive cancers.”

Formal agreement has been reached for COP31 to be hosted by Türkiye in Antalya, with the Pacific’s interests advanced by Australia assuming the role of President of Negotiations in the lead up to and at the meeting.

Australia will have “exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations”, to shape and guide global decision making in support of the multilateral system and global trade and investment in clean energy industries.

The Pacific will host a special pre-COP for leaders and others, bringing attention to the existential threat climate change poses to the region.

This will give Australia and the Pacific unprecedented influence over multilateral deliberations and actions of the global community in 2026.

We are proud to work with Türkiye, a country with whom we share a long history, to take forward COP31 in 2026.

Australia and the Pacific, led by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, worked hard to negotiate a deal that not only highlights the existential threat of climate change in our region but also strengthens international action.

Under this COP model we will demonstrate that the shared challenge of climate change, is also the world’s shared economic opportunity.

Under the agreement, reached at COP30 in Belem, Brazil:

• Australia will be the President of Negotiations, with “exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations”, from the end of COP30 this week until the end of COP31. This will give Australia and the Pacific unprecedented influence in global climate negotiations. Minister Bowen will fulfil this role.
• Australia will select ministerial and other co-facilitators for negotiations and identify additional champions with Türkiye for the action agenda and thematic priorities, including from the Pacific.
• Australia, in partnership with the Pacific, will set the agenda for and preside over a special Pre-COP for leaders and others in the Pacific in 2026, giving the world an opportunity to see Pacific climate impacts and solutions firsthand.
• The action agenda will be strengthened and elevated, and include a session at COP31 focused on climate finance needs of Small Island Developing States, providing a platform for world leaders and others to make commitments to the Pacific Resilience Facility – a Pacific-led fund to support Pacific climate responses.
• Türkiye will physically host the COP31 conference and World Leaders Summit in Antalya – a moment to demonstrate true, practical global cooperation.
• Türkiye will be nominated to be elected as the COP President.

Australia respects the United Nations Framework Convention consensus rules – and we negotiated with Türkiye in good faith for an outcome that delivers for the interests of the Pacific and our nation. 

This will give our Pacific family the global stage they have always deserved.

Since May 2022, we have been restoring Australia’s climate leadership at home and abroad.

We have restored Australia’s relationship with the Pacific, and proven we are a reliable, trustworthy partner – willing to work with partners on difficult challenges.

Our region is at the frontline of the climate crisis, where the effects of climate change are real and immediate. COP31 will bring the focus of the world to the impacts, opportunities and priorities in our region.  

Global focus on the most pressing challenges facing our region will support investments in solutions which are fit for purpose for our region.  

Leading the COP31 negotiations in partnership with the Pacific will strengthen our ties with our closest neighbours, raising our region’s profile in support of shared prosperity, stability and security.  

Together, COP31 will accelerate practical action and investment to keep global temperatures to safer limits and help build resilience to climate impacts.

Today Australia has imposed sanctions against two Russian cybercrime service providers – Media Land LLC and ML. Cloud LLC – and two of their key personnel – Aleksandr Alexandrovich Volosovik and Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin. Australia has taken this action in partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States.

These organisations have provided their ransomware infrastructure to malicious cyber actors and cybercriminals, allowing them to conduct cyber attacks in Australia and around the world.

Media Land has helped enable criminals to conduct attacks against Australian financial institutions, Australian businesses, their customers, and critical international infrastructure.  

This is the fifth time we have activated Australia’s autonomous cyber sanctions framework, part of the Albanese Government’s coordinated action against cybercrime. 

The sanctions make it a criminal offence to provide assets to either Media Land entity or the two sanctioned individuals, or to use or deal with their assets, with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and/or heavy fines. The sanctions also ban the individuals from entering Australia. 

Today’s sanctions are the result of the close collaboration between the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Signals Directorate, and international partners. This demonstrates our collective commitment to deterring and responding to cybercrime and protecting our citizens. 

Australians continue to be targeted by malicious cyber actors, and lose billions to cyber scams each year. Cyber sanctions are a key tool to impose costs on cyber actors and protect Australians from this threat. As outlined in the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, the Australian Government is consistently working to deter and respond to malicious cyber activity.

Australians should report cybercrimes, incidents or vulnerabilities to the Australian Signals Directorate at 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371) or https://www.cyber.gov.au/report. Australian businesses can help protect themselves from ransomware and phishing attacks by updating devices, regularly backing up files and ensuring staff know to never visit suspicious websites, open emails from unknown sources or click on suspicious links.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles:

“The Australian Government is taking strong steps to strike back against malicious cyber activity. These actions are about defending our national security and ensuring Australians can live and work safely in a digital world

“This latest cyber sanction builds on previous actions and demonstrates our relentless pursuit of those who seek to harm Australians.

“These sanctions don’t just impose costs on criminals, they dismantle the infrastructure that enables cybercrime. By disrupting these networks, we make it harder for others to launch attacks and it strengthens Australia’s resilience against future threats.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong: 

“The Albanese Government is working to strengthen Australia’s resilience and keep Australians safe from cyber criminals.

“Working across government and with international partners, we will continue to take action against Russia, to disrupt cybercrime and hold malicious cyber actors to account.”

Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke:

“We will continue to do everything we can to break down the networks and alienate the individuals who are driving cyber attacks against Australia and Australian interests. 

“This is one of the fastest growing threats our country faces and our government will ensure we are ready to face it.”

The Albanese Government is announcing today HIFraser as the first Australian company qualified to supply parts for US Virginia class submarines through the Government-funded Defence Industry Vendor Qualification Program (DIVQ) – supporting advanced manufacturing, creating high-value jobs, and strengthening Australia’s security through the AUKUS partnership.

HIFraser is now qualified to supply three valve types and pipe fittings to US submarine programs, for use in the construction and sustainment of Virginia class submarines. This comes less than 12 months after the awarding of an initial contract by the Albanese Government to commence manufacturing of these parts for qualification by US vendors.

DIVQ is a key initiative under Australia’s AUKUS Submarine Industry Strategy, accelerating the qualification of Australian products into US and UK submarine supply chains and ensuring Australian companies and workers are at the heart of this generational capability uplift.

USS Vermont Maintenance Period

Today’s announcement coincides with the Submarine Maintenance Period for United States Ship (USS) Vermont at HMAS Stirling.

This is the first time a US nuclear­‑powered submarine has undergone a maintenance period in Australia without a US support ship, with this milestone being achieved solely by Australian, US and UK onshore teams.

During this maintenance period, personnel from the Royal Australian Navy and ASC are working alongside their US counterparts to support more than 160 maintenance tasks, including a world-first mobile pure water plant designed by Western Australian companies MAK Water and Diverse Welding to meet stringent US and UK standards.

There are also two Australian officers and 11 Australian sailors who are part of the crew of USS Vermont supporting all aspects of the maintenance period and routine submarine operations over a four-week period.   

These milestones highlight how AUKUS is creating extraordinary opportunities for Australian industry, workers and Defence personnel – a critical step towards Australia’s capacity to own, operate and maintain conventionally-armed, nuclear‑powered submarines.

The Albanese Government is investing $8 billion to upgrade HMAS Stirling to support Submarine Rotational Force‑West from 2027. Over the next 30 years, around 20,000 direct jobs will be created across Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program, supported by training pathways, scholarships, and industry partnerships that will deliver a highly skilled workforce for decades to come.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“AUKUS is happening at pace – strengthening national security, creating jobs, and building a Future Made in Australia.

“Today’s announcement is another example of how our investments in AUKUS are bolstering Defence capabilities and supporting Australian workers.

“It is fantastic to see this work in action here at the home of our submarines, at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles:

“Australian Defence Force personnel and industry are working side by side with our AUKUS partners to deliver a demanding maintenance program on a US Virginia class submarine – building the skills and experience that will underpin our sovereign submarine capability.

“The qualification of HIFraser products to Virginia class submarine standards through the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification Program is further demonstration of the Albanese Government’s investment to deliver opportunities for industry.

“Australians are making an unprecedented contribution to the operation, building and sustainment of nuclear‑powered submarines.”

the Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy:

“HIFraser’s qualification and MAK Water’s achievement showcase how AUKUS is delivering opportunities for Australian industry, creating jobs for local workers and building our sovereign capability.

“These milestones demonstrate the way Australian industry and workers are not only supporting our own submarines, but contributing to the sustainment of US and UK fleets as well.

“Our three navies, alongside industry, are working, learning and innovating together – making us stronger than the sum of our parts.”

Over the past 80 years, Australia and Chile have developed a close and multifaceted relationship, bound by the Pacific, enriched by Australia’s vibrant Chilean diaspora, underpinned by trade and our complementary strengths as mining economies, and characterized by our shared values and beliefs.

Whether through the 19th-century trade in wheat from Chile that supplied a growing Australian nation, or contemporary investments by our mining companies, commercial ties have provided the backbone of our relationship.

Our high-quality Free Trade Agreement and common membership in the CPTPP have strengthened and diversified our trade, facilitating greater two-way investment and enabling our world-class mining sectors to collaborate in producing the critical minerals vital to the global energy transition.

Australia and Chile form a bridge connecting the Pacific with Latin America, whether through direct flights, strategic business hubs, or the new Humboldt undersea cable connection, which will enable us to harness the digital economy.

Chile and Australia are committed to a peaceful, stable, and prosperou s Pacific region, working closely together to achieve greater regional economic integration through our active membership of APEC, and to bolster defence and security through the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting.

Across the multilateral system, we are strong, like-minded partners who work hand in hand to respond to the global challenges of our time. Whether in the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Cairns Group, Antarctic Treaty System, or many other international bodies, we work to uphold human rights, respond to climate change, achieve gender equality, protection of the oceans, support free and fair international trade, and reinforce an open, stable, and rules-based international system.

Both countries support further reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, to achieve our shared objective of safeguarding sovereignty by promoting international peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

The most enduring links between Australia and Chile are those between our peoples. Australia is home to a large and valued Chilean diaspora, and every year, Australians and Chileans cross the Pacific as students, businesspeople, tourists, or working holidaymakers, strengthening our connections.

As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, we are confident it is through these foundations of shared values, common interests, friendships, and human connections that Australia and Chile will continue to grow and prosper together.

The Victorian Greens have welcomed the Allan Labor Government’s decision to force reserve-price disclosure before auctions, noting that the reform closely mirrors a Greens Bill first introduced in Parliament in August.

Underquoting has run rampant across Victoria for years, with countless first-home buyers spending thousands on building and pest inspections for homes that were never genuinely within the advertised range. Labor has only exacerbated the problem with its 5% deposit scheme, which has fuelled competition and driven prices even higher without doing anything to improve affordability.

The Greens say Labor is only acting now because of sustained public pressure and a damning media investigation and have urged Labor to go much further if it’s serious about fixing a system stacked against first home buyers.

While Labor’s proposal would require reserve prices to be published just one week before an auction, the Greens’ Bill goes further by mandating that reserve prices be disclosed from the moment a property is listed, giving buyers full transparency from day one.

The Greens say that if Labor genuinely wants to make housing fairer, transparency reforms are only the first step – and what Victoria really needs is proper investment in public housing and strong rent controls to address the root causes of the crisis.

Victorian Greens housing spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri:

“Labor’s finally catching up. First-home buyers have been getting completely screwed for years, wasting time and spending thousands on inspections for homes they were never going to afford.

“People deserve honesty, not false hope, and Labor should go further like the Greens’ Bill does by making agents disclose reserve prices from day one.

“Being told the reserve early is helpful, but it doesn’t change the reality that most young people can’t afford the reserve in the first place, but right now Labor’s making the housing crisis worse by demolishing public housing and pushing prices up with no plan to address affordability.”

Older Australians will retain the right to access end-of-life healthcare in their homes, regardless of where they live, following a conscience vote in NSW Parliament last night.

Labor, Liberal and National party members were granted a conscience vote and were divided on the issue, but the amendments were ultimately rejected by the Legislative Council, with 23 votes against and 16 votes in favour of the changes.

According to Greens spokesperson for Health and former rural GP Dr Amanda Cohn, aged care and health care advocates have welcomed Parliament’s decision to reject amendments to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment (Residential Facilities) Bill 2025 introduced by Liberal MLC Susan Carter.

“The proposed changes to the bill could have denied elderly people living in faith-based aged care facilities access to voluntary assisted dying in their homes,” Dr Cohn said.

The bill threatened the health rights of individuals based on the religious views held by facility management.

“Residential aged care facilities are people’s homes. We know that elderly people have limited choice of providers and, in some regional communities, there is only one facility available.”

“Moving frail and terminally ill people at the end of their life is far from simple. Most people want to die at home, not in a hospital.”

“Changes to access would have meant that anyone living in a faith-based facility, whether they shared that faith or not, would have fewer rights than everyone else. This is completely unjust.”

“Voluntary assisted dying laws in NSW were hard-fought and carefully negotiated in 2022. The upper house has strongly rejected this piecemeal and poorly considered reform. We have heard clearly that the community does not want to see access to voluntary assisted dying eroded.”

There was widespread opposition to Susan Carter’s proposed changes from health care providers and seniors advocates, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, the Australian Paramedics Association (NSW), Seniors Rights Service, Older Women’s Network NSW, Council on the Ageing NSW, Uniting NSW.ACT, Go Gentle, Dying with Dignity NSW, Cancer Voices NSW and others.

Dr Cohn’s full contribution in Parliament on the bill on 15 October can be found here.