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NSW confirms first H5N1 birdflu case

A giant petrel found on the New Sputh Wales coast at Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, has been confirmed as the state’s first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The positive test is the sixth confirmed case.

Samples from a seventh bird – another giant petrel found at Mullaloo Beach in Western Australia – are also being tested at CSIRO’s

The NSW agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, confirmed the test and said there was no spread into wild birds or commercial poultry. She said:

The NSW Government has been preparing for a positive result for some time and there is a clear plan in place to support industry and the community.

At this stage the result is limited to a single migratory seabird and has not impacted our poultry sector or domestic wildlife.

She said surveillance of high risk areas using drones and people on the ground had been ramped-up. Poultry producers had been told to heighten biosecurity measures.

Penry Buckley

PM defends tax changes as conference motions call for further action

Anthony Albanese will defend the federal government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes to delegates at the NSW Labor conference today, as some local branches call for the party to take reforms further.

In his speech this morning, the prime minister is expected to say:

In all the conversations I’ve had and the interviews and press conferences I’ve held, no one has argued that the housing market was working fine the way it was. No one has been able to say that the status quo was fair or reasonable or sustainable for the future.

And once you get to that point, once everyone acknowledges that the system is broken. Then the choice for a party of government is very clear. If you don’t have the ticker, you can kick the can down the road and leave the problem to a future generation. Or you can do the hard thing, the right thing – and fix it. That is the choice we have made.

As The Australian has reported, some local branch motions for further changes, including a call by the Glebe branch to remove grandfathering arrangements for investors on rental properties, have the support of NSW party’s economics committee and are expected to be referred to the federal party.

While Labor leadership has sought to project unity at this year’s conference ahead of the state election next year, there may still be flash points between left and right delegates today.

A committee report on Australia’s role in the world, which discusses the Middle East and endorses the Aukus agreement, will not be debated today, Labor sources confirmed yesterday. But Labor left faction members were still negotiating for motions for the state government to repeal protest laws to be debated this afternoon.

Albanese to criticise rightwing ‘axis of grievance’ at NSW Labor conference

Penry Buckley

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will use a speech at the second day of NSW’s Labor conference to attack what he says is a rightwing “axis of grievance” forming between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation.

One Nation loomed over the first day of the 2026 NSW Labor conference, with the premier, Chris Minns, warning the party needs to “climb Everest” to stay in power amid the rising threat posed by Pauline Hanson’s party at next year’s state election.

In response to a federal Liberal frontbencher’s comment this week that her party might need a “rebrand” to win back voters, Albanese is expected to tell Labor delegates this morning:

The problem is not their [the Liberals] brand – it is their product. It is not their sales pitch – it is their policies. It is not what they call themselves – it is who they are. It is the race to the bottom that all three rightwing parties are caught up in. They are the axis of grievance. Each trying to be more anti-fairness, more anti-worker, more anti-aspiration.

This is why, for all the shifts in the landscape over the years, the fundamental contrast in Australian politics remains the same. Our opponents only ever define themselves by who and what they are against. We are defined by what we are for. By our enduring Australian values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all. And by what we do to give those values life and weight and meaning for all Australians.

Welcome to Sunday

Graham Readfearn

Good morning all and thanks for being with us. Graham Readfearn here.

First up, we will have news in a few minutes that NSW has recorded its first confirmed case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu in a giant petrel found north of Newcastle at Hawks Nest.

We also have the second day of the annual NSW Labor party conference.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will use a speech today to describe a right-wing “axis of grievance” forming between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation.

Yesterday the NSW Premier Chris Minns said the party needed to “climb Everest” to stay in power.