AEC confirms container of ballot papers in Barton went missing but says it did not affect result
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed one container of ballot papers for the NSW seat of Barton was temporarily misplaced during the count, with a transport officer found to have possession of the container.
The AEC said, however, it was recovered still sealed and undamaged and did not affect the outcome in Barton.
In the seat, which Labor retained with Ash Ambihaipahar winning 61.66% of the two-party preferred vote, the AEC said all votes had been counted in the Hurstville polling place on election night. Once the ballot papers were transported securely for a second count as required, the AEC identified that one of two containers for House of Representative ballots at the polling place had not been returned.
A spokesperson for the AEC said it was determined an authorised transport officer “inadvertently maintained possession of the single missing container.”
The container was recovered with all uniquely coded security seals unbroken and without any damage.
All ballot papers were still in the recovered ballot paper transport container and were promptly returned to the counting centre and have undergone fresh scrutiny. The fresh scrutiny count matched the initial count and the election in the Division of Barton was unaffected by this incident.
The AEC said it was investigating the incident to see what could change to prevent it happening again in future elections.
This shouldn’t have occurred, and the AEC is deeply concerned that on this single occasion our process did not prevent the issue on polling night when ballot papers were initially returned.
Key events
Wong said she understands why former minister Ed Husic is upset about being excluded from the new ministry in the government. On whether it was over his comments in relation to Gaza, Wong said “we all share concern about what is happening in Gaza.
We know how difficult it has been for the people of Gaza these last weeks and months. And we continue to join with others to call on Israel to ensure that aid is delivered.
Wong would not comment on whether Husic was close to breaching cabinet solidarity.
On whether Australia should be lobbying harder for a tariffs deal with the United States, following the UK and US coming to an agreement, Wong says Australia will make “sensible decisions in our interest” and develop trading relationships with other countries.
On reports of an Australian being killed fighting in Ukraine, Wong would not comment specifically but said it is a “very dangerous place to be” and consular assistance is being provided to a family in this matter.
Wong says ‘there is no country more important for Australia’ than Indonesia
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says there is no more important country to Australia than Indonesia as Anthony Albanese heads to the nation today on his first overseas trip since re-election.
Wong told ABC News Breakfast:
That reflects the importance Indonesia has for Australian stability, for Australian security, for our region. There is no country more important for Australia, so we are very focused on making sure that we continue the work we did last term to invest in the relationship and to strengthen it, keep strengthening it and going further.
Wong says the focus of the visit will be around partnership on the economy, trade, investment and defence.
AEC confirms container of ballot papers in Barton went missing but says it did not affect result
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed one container of ballot papers for the NSW seat of Barton was temporarily misplaced during the count, with a transport officer found to have possession of the container.
The AEC said, however, it was recovered still sealed and undamaged and did not affect the outcome in Barton.
In the seat, which Labor retained with Ash Ambihaipahar winning 61.66% of the two-party preferred vote, the AEC said all votes had been counted in the Hurstville polling place on election night. Once the ballot papers were transported securely for a second count as required, the AEC identified that one of two containers for House of Representative ballots at the polling place had not been returned.
A spokesperson for the AEC said it was determined an authorised transport officer “inadvertently maintained possession of the single missing container.”
The container was recovered with all uniquely coded security seals unbroken and without any damage.
All ballot papers were still in the recovered ballot paper transport container and were promptly returned to the counting centre and have undergone fresh scrutiny. The fresh scrutiny count matched the initial count and the election in the Division of Barton was unaffected by this incident.
The AEC said it was investigating the incident to see what could change to prevent it happening again in future elections.
This shouldn’t have occurred, and the AEC is deeply concerned that on this single occasion our process did not prevent the issue on polling night when ballot papers were initially returned.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria to extend stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan purchases by 12 months
The Victorian government will extend its stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan properties by another 12 months, as part of next week’s state budget.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, will today announce $61m to continue the concessions for off-the-plan apartments, townhouses and units until October 2026.
First announced last year, the concession applies to new properties at any price point and is open to all buyers, including investors. Rather than basing stamp duty on the final sale price, it is calculated on the land value prior to construction.
For a new $620,000 off-the-plan apartment, that could mean a stamp duty bill of $4,000 – saving the buyer $28,000.
According to the government, buyers have saved an average of $24,517 since the concession came into effect. Allan said in a statement:
Young people can’t afford homes in a housing crisis, and I’m on their side. That’s why we’re slashing stamp duty for off-the-plan units and townhouses – to build more homes and make them cheaper to buy.
The treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, said the extension responds to industry feedback:
This isn’t just great news for homebuyers trying to get into the market. It’s also a huge win for homebuilders.
The budget will also include $24m to develop the 50 proposed activity centres across Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs while $12.1m will be spent to plan for 13,200 new homes in growth areas, including Clyde South and Derrimut Fields in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
Josh Taylor
Hello, this is Josh Taylor taking the live blog for this morning.
As an experienced pilot who learned her trade in the Queensland outback, Sussan Ley is metaphorically better equipped than anyone in the Liberal party to plot a course back from the edge of the political wilderness to the centre ground.
Her rise to the very frontline of politics after her victory in the Liberal party room election yesterday has lifted the lid on a varied Cv of which her aviation skills are but only one part. She can also boast of stints as a station cook and accountant, not to mention raising three children along the way.
Tom McIlroy profiles the Liberal’s first female leader.
Economists’ views on Trump tarriff chaos on our markets
As mentioned above, there are serious concerns among market analysts that chaos unleashed by Donald Trump will cause problems for Australia.
Jenny Gordon, an honorary professor at the ANU and a former chief economist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told our reporter there was no end in sight to the market uncertainty.
Gordon said the experience of the UK and China demonstrated that countries were not coming to the White House as supplicants.
“I think the one thing that has changed is that the world is pushing back against this idea that there would be countries turning up to the US and offering things,” she said.
“And part of that is the Americans don’t know what they want. The Japanese asked the Americans ‘Tell us what you want’, and the response was ‘Tell us what you’ve got to give’.
“Certainly countries are not coming on bended knees.”
Read the whole story here:
Separately, there are concerns the US president’s pressure on medicine companies could drive up the cost of Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or see companies withdraw some medicines from Australian shelves.
Albanese heads to Indonesia
Global tensions and Indonesia’s developing relationship with China and Russia will likely be on the agenda when Anthony Albanese makes his first overseas trip of his second term, Australian Associated Press reports.
The prime minister will travel to Jakarta today where he will meet Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo released a video of his conversation with Albanese after his thumping election win, saying he was “so happy” to see him win another term. The prime minister told the Indonesian president he wanted Jakarta to be his first visit – not Washington or Beijing.
The first state visit to Indonesia continued a legacy set up by the Howard government, which was symbolic in projecting Australia’s identity as being close to Asia, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s senior analyst, Gatra Priyandita, said.
“Albanese is interested in maintaining that image of Australia as being independent of the United States and close to the region,” he told AAP.
“There is great interest in Indonesia’s developing relationship with both Russia and China, with Indonesia establishing some of its first naval exercises with Russia recently, so it will probably be under discussion.”
Reports in April that Moscow was seeking permission from Jakarta for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based in Indonesia alarmed Canberra. Indonesian authorities reassured their Australian counterparts that would not be the case, but did not confirm if the request had been made.
The prime minister went back on a pledge to attend Prabowo’s inauguration in October 2024 because of a visit to Australia by King Charles.
Dr Gatra said his concern was that this new visit to Jakarta would be purely symbolic. “I haven’t heard much in the context of practical deliverables,” he said.
“It’s very important for Australia and Indonesia to think about strategic co-operation … especially since both Albanese and Prabowo will likely be counterparts for quite some time.”
Catie McLeod
Child killed and three injured in NSW road collision
A child has died and three people have been injured in a collision between a ute and a truck on the New South Wales south coast, the state’s police force has said.
Last night, police said emergency services had been called to Towamba Road in Nullica near Eden at about 4.10pm yesterday, where they found a six-year-old boy who had been travelling in the dual-cab ute had died at the scene.
The driver, a man aged in his 30s, and a three-year-old girl, who was a passenger in the ute, suffered multiple injuries were flown to hospital from Merimbula airport, police said.
A third passenger in the ute, an eight-year-old girl, was taken to South-East Regional hospital in Bega, police said.
Police said the driver of the truck, believed to be aged in his 50s, had been taken to the same hospital in Bega for mandatory testing and to be treated for the effects of shock. Police said police from the southern region crash investigation investigation unit would examine the scene of the collison.
Towamba Road was expected to be closed for part of the night as the investigation began.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your regular blogger takes over the reins.
Yesterday Jim Chalmers said policy uncertainty means Australia is in for a lot of economic uncertainty. Today, we report on how although signs of appeasement between the US and China on trade is good news for Australia’s China-dependent economy, many market experts think that the chaos created by Donald Trump is “worse than the 10% tariff”. Reflecting that, perhaps, the ASX200 is set to open down around 0.5% when it opens later this morning. We’ll have more as it happens.
Anthony Albanese will make his first overseas visit since winning the election when he sets off for Indonesia today. The prime minister will travel to Jakarta where he will meet Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto. The summit follows reports during the election campaign that Moscow was seeking permission from Jakarta for Russian aerospace forces aircraft to be based in Indonesia, causing alarm in Canberra.
