McDermott Aviation, the company that owns the two firefighting helicopters that collided in Greece, released a statement this morning saying it was deeply saddened by the accident.
John McDermott, the founder and president of the company, said in a statement:
double quotation markWe are deeply saddened to confirm that the two crew members aboard one of the helicopters have lost their lives. The two crew members from the second helicopter are in the care of medical professionals.
Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of those affected by this tragic incident. Both crews were undertaking the critical work of supporting firefighting operations to help protect communities.
McDermott Aviation is working closely with the relevant authorities and will continue to assist as they undertake their investigation into the incident.
Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese on leave this week
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, is on leave for most of this week, his office has announced, with the deputy leader, Jane Hume, acting in his stead.
Taylor will be on leave from today until Thursday, a spokesperson advised today.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is also on leave this week, his office announced last week, returning to work Thursday and with Richard Marles as acting PM in the interim.
Hume was set to hold a press conference this morning in Brisbane.
Laurie Daley has ended months of speculation by officially quitting his role as NSW State of Origin coach, AAP reports.
The NSWRL on Monday paid tribute to “true blue” Daley while announcing he would be stepping down after NSW successfully won back the shield from Queensland following a turbulent 2026 campaign.
The Blues claimed the series 2-1 after becoming only the fourth team in Origin history to win a decider at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
NSWRL chief executive David Trodden said:
double quotation markNSWRL owes a massive debt of gratitude to Laurie for the service he has given to his state as both a player and a coach.
He has also led NSW to arguably two of the greatest Origin series wins of all time as a coach, after ending Queensland’s eight-year winning streak in 2014 and overcoming adversity to steer the Blues home in 2026.
Those wins transcended football. They lifted and reinvigorated the whole state. He deserves to leave the NSW Origin arena as the hero that he is.
Alan Jones trial on indecent assault and sexual touching charges begins in Sydney
The high-profile trial of former broadcaster Alan Jones for indecent assault and sexual touching charges begins today in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court and is expected to run for four months and hear from 76 witnesses.
Judge Glenn Walsh will hear from six complainants who were allegedly indecently assaulted by the 85-year-old between 2003 and 2020.
Jones is facing 22 charges at his judge-alone trial. They include 20 indecent assault and two sexual touching charges, the court was told in pre-trial hearings last month. In 2018 the offence of indecent assault was replaced by sexual touching, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
Jones has denied all wrongdoing and said the allegations are all either baseless or they distort the truth.
House prices slide across Australia as Middle East conflict and tax changes begin to bite
House prices have fallen in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as the market downturn spreads across Australia.
New Cotality data, released on Monday, showed prices have fallen across most of the nation since May.
Brisbane’s median price has fallen about $8,000 since May, to equal its March level of $1.1m. The city’s dwelling prices had increased for an historic 40 consecutive months, since February 2023, until they fell in June. Adelaide and Perth median home prices have each fallen about $4,000 below their record highs set in May, at $944,000 and $1.03m respectively.
In June, regional Australia’s home values fell overall for the first time since January 2023. Regional home values fell or stayed flat in every state in July.
Nationally, the median home price is now $928,000 – about $19,000 below its March peak.
McDermott Aviation, the company that owns the two firefighting helicopters that collided in Greece, released a statement this morning saying it was deeply saddened by the accident.
John McDermott, the founder and president of the company, said in a statement:
double quotation markWe are deeply saddened to confirm that the two crew members aboard one of the helicopters have lost their lives. The two crew members from the second helicopter are in the care of medical professionals.
Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of those affected by this tragic incident. Both crews were undertaking the critical work of supporting firefighting operations to help protect communities.
McDermott Aviation is working closely with the relevant authorities and will continue to assist as they undertake their investigation into the incident.
Chalmers says house prices have fallen before after periods of ‘extraordinary’ growth
Chalmers was asked about a fall in house prices across the country as major tax changes begin to bite.
The treasurer said it’s “not uncommon” to see prices fall as they have been following periods of ‘extraordinary growth’, pointing to similar declines in 2022 at the beginning of the rate hiking cycle and between 2017 and 2019.
double quotation markInvestment in housing is a long-term investment. People don’t make investments in housing from day to day or week to week, month to month. And so, from time to time, you will see movements in prices like these.
But housing is a long-term investment, and we continue to expect over the course of the coming years that prices will continue to rise, but more modestly than before.
Chalmers maintains fuel excise cut never meant to be permanent
Jim Chalmers said prices have indeed come up over the past month, but they are “substantially lower” than when the excise relief came into effect.
He spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the cut was “never intended to be permanent”:
double quotation markPrices have come up a bit, but they are substantially lower than when we first introduced this excise relief. The excise relief has played a really important role in taking some of the edge off these cost of living pressures that have been turbocharged by a war in the Middle East.
It was never intended to be permanent. … It’s done a really important job, but we can’t afford to continue it forever.
He said the government hasn’t been considering bringing them back it petrol prices climb again.
Chalmers puts service stations on notice … again
Now that the fuel exercise cut has ended, the treasurer has told the consumer watchdog to closely monitor service stations to make sure they’re not price gouging.
After the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the government temporarily cut the fuel excise in half. That was then increased slightly last month, saving about 16c per litre at the wholesale price for an extra month. The excise cut ended at midnight on Monday.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the ACCC will be watching servos and suppliers “like a hawk”.
double quotation markThe regulator will step up its monitoring of fuel price movements. Any price increase that can’t be explained will face serious scrutiny from the ACCC.
We’ve jacked up the penalties for petrol stations that rip off Australians. They face multimillion-dollar fines if they break the law.
Chalmers made the same warning when the fuel excise cut was reduced last month. It’s expected to take a few days for changes to flow through to the bowser.
The government has released new details of its news bargaining incentive legislation, with LinkedIn no longer exempt from the agreement – which will force platforms to pay for news content.
The platforms – Google, Meta, TikTok and now LinkedIn – will have to make deals with at least six media organisations (an increase from four under the draft legislation) or pay 2.5% of their digital revenue made in Australia.
The government has announced the changes after consultations with industry.
The charge rate for companies that don’t sign deals has increased, from 2.25% to 2.5% of their digital advertising revenue. The government has changed the rules from the platforms having to pay a percentage of their total revenue made in Australia to just digital advertising revenue.
It means revenue from the phones Google sells, for example, will be exempt from the news bargaining incentive payments – since that doesn’t count as digital revenue.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that Microsoft had lobbied the government in March 2025 to keep LinkedIn and Bing exempt from the new rules. Bing still won’t be liable to pay the incentive, because its digital advertising revenue in Australia is under the $250m threshold.
In a statement, the minister for financial services, Daniel Mulino said the changes “do not alter the intent of the legislation and remain true to the policy rationale”.
double quotation markWe want digital platforms to do deals with a diverse range of media organisations and have shown good faith with both the platforms and media companies during the consultation process.
Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to get the week’s news going. Here’s what’s on deck:
The high-profile trial of former broadcaster Alan Jones for indecent assault and sexual touching charges begins today in Sydney.
LinkedIn has been pulled into the government’s news bargaining incentive legislation and will no longer be exempt from the agreement. The announcement comes after consultation with the industry, with the government saying the changes “remain true to the policy rationale”.
The treasurer Jim Chalmers, has issued a warning to service stations amid ongoing tension in the Middle East, saying he will be watching them “like a hawk”. The fuel excise cut has now come off but it is expected to take a few days for the changes to flow through to the bowser.
Source: Guardian - World News
