Australia news live: ATO finds one-quarter of big firms pay zero tax; credit and debit surcharges scrapped 01. October 2026 (00:00) Follow the day’s news live.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastShoebridge says people are sick of ‘messaging without substance’David Shoebridge, the new Greens leader, says Australians are “sick of the messaging without substance”.People are sick of the messaging without substance. What they’re asking for is they’re asking for a political party that’s going to go and fight for them and take on the 1% and take on the corporations. They want to see us fighting for that.We have an incredibly united membership base. We have an incredibly united party across the country. And I expect that to be how we operate as a party room, how we operate as a leadership team and how we operate as a growing movement.The ATO is committed to helping taxpayers transition to alternative payment methods and will continue to support those experiencing financial hardship or other circumstances that make it difficult to meet their obligations. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hegseth confirms plan to cut 20% of US top military brass and rails at ‘beardos, weirdos and wimps’ 30. September 2026 (23:20) Pentagon head hails military with ‘no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals’ in anti-DEI rantSend us your questions about how the Iran war will affect US voters in the midtermsThe US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has confirmed plans to cut 20% of generals and admirals and declared “no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps” would be tolerated inside the country’s military.Delivering his latest extraordinary attack on diversity, and dismissing reports of low morale within the US armed forces as “false claims”, Hegseth also suggested they were retaining service personnel at “record” rates. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Pete Hegseth appoints Elon Musk to US taskforce on future of warfare 30. September 2026 (23:18) A year after his explosive tenure at Doge, the SpaceX CEO is back in the Trump administration’s good gracesPete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that Elon Musk will co-lead a government project to study the future of warfare, marking the SpaceX CEO’s first return to government since he ran the chaotic, so -called “department of government efficiency”, or Doge. Musk will be joined by Palmer Luckey, CEO of the defense tech company Anduril, and Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House.A defense department press release on the effort, called Project Meridian, described its goal as “identifying the capabilities required to achieve absolute technological dominance on the next-generation battlefield”. The project will run for 120 days and culminate in an unclassified public report of its recommendations. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
