Australia Post has issued a renewed call for people to secure their dogs after reporting more than 1,200 dog-related incidents affecting its posties over the last six months, an average of nine incidents a day.
The agency said that figure is a 5% increase on the same period last year, which raises serious concerns about the safety of its frontline workers. New South Wales is the worst offender, accounting for more than a third of all cases.
Russell Munro, the general manager of safety for AusPost, said in a statement: "Posties encounter multiple dogs every day while delivering, and some can pose a real safety risk. What seems like a routine delivery can quickly escalate, and our posties can't predict how a dog may react, regardless of breed or temperament."
Posties are now equipped with citronella spray as a last line of defence measure, a non-toxic effort to briefly distract dogs. Munro added: "If you're expecting a delivery, make sure your dog is securely contained in another room, behind a locked gate or safely restrained. If you're unable to do so, we encourage customers to consider using a 24/7 free and convenient parcel locker as a safer alternative."
In other news, the South Australian Government will introduce legislation this week to defer the 2026 periodic local government elections by five months, in response to a request from the Acting Electoral Commissioner to delay the vote. A statement from the Deputy Premier Kyam Maher said inadequate frameworks, processes and documentation meant the 2026 election was planned and delivered at the same time, with the local council elections set to follow. "In the plainest of terms, the Acting Electoral Commissioner has said that the Electoral Commission is simply not equipped to manage the local government elections should they proceed this year. It's a warning we cannot ignore, and we have moved swiftly to respond to the Commissioner's concerns and propose a sensible, pragmatic way forward."
Meanwhile, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking on the Bellarine peninsula in Victoria. Asked if there will be an extended fuel excise on diesel, he said: "We will give consideration to those matters." He also welcomed the peace deal in the Middle East, noting the memorandum of understanding has been signed, with the signing of the agreement to take place in Switzerland on Friday.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has emerged unscathed from the last Labor caucus meeting before the winter break, telling reporters she will "absolutely" lead the party to November's state election. Briefly speaking to reporters on the way out, she said the meeting was "fantastic," with MPs discussing the week ahead in parliament and the need to focus on the working people they represent. The deputy premier, Ben Carroll, considered her most likely challenger, walked into the meeting with Allan. Afterwards, he told reporters that "no one" had spoken to him about a leadership spill: "It's not coming from me, I've been a loyal deputy to Jacinta Allan for three years, and that remains the case." He said the premier told the room to be "united and disciplined." When asked whether he wanted MPs to start focusing on the election and the challenge ahead, Carroll said: "Yes because internal politics is not what Victorians want. As we've seen, Labor is leaking to One Nation, the conservatives are hemorrhaging to them." While he conceded Labor was polling poorly, he said the party could "turn it around" and win in November: "We're in the fight of our lives and we're going to win the election in November … you watch the papers the next day. We will turn this around and we will win in November."
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson spoke to 2GB earlier this morning, where she was asked about her relationship with opposition leader Angus Taylor. She had this to say: "I haven't spoken to Angus since 2019 when he [was] environmental minister." Hanson was asked if Taylor had reached out after the Coalition leader said he would do so, but she said he hadn't so far. When pressed about any future deal between the two should the next election give them enough seats to form government, Hanson added: "We're not going to count our chickens before they hatch. There's a lot of work to do, but I've offered supply and confidence to Angus Taylor to the Coalition government so that we can get rid of this toxic Labor government."
Grill'd has issued a statement responding to the ACCC announcement that it is taking the burger chain to court over alleged greenwashing. In its statement, Grill'd said its Tree Day Tuesday promotion was "undertaken with positive intent" and that it donated more than $250,000 to plant more than 100,000 trees and restore more than 40 hectares of forests. "Grill'd has a proud history of supporting and donating to thousands of community groups across Australia. Local Matters has raised over $7 million for thousands of community groups, including local charities, schools and sporting clubs across Australia. We are an Australian business, and supporting Australian communities and those in need has and will always be part of who we are. Grill'd takes Australian Consumer Law very seriously, and our reputation is forged in trust and doing the right thing in the communities where we live. Grill'd has worked internally and with all stakeholders, including the ACCC, to ensure that brand and sustainability initiatives undertaken are clear and cause no confusion in the eyes of the Australian public."
The consumer watchdog has launched legal action against Grill'd for alleged "greenwashing", accusing the burger chain of misleading customers by greatly overstating how much money it was donating to environmental causes. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced this morning that it had taken Grill'd to the federal court, alleging the company broke consumer law by misrepresenting its Tree Day Tuesday campaign. The ACCC alleges Grill'd made various representations to customers during the campaign, which it ran between January 2021 and April 2024, including that it would donate $1 from every burger purchased on a Tuesday towards the planting of trees. However, the ACCC says that while Grill'd sold more than 5m burgers on a Tuesday during the campaign, only about 4% of those resulted in the company making a Tree Day Tuesday donation. This is because the fine print imposed strict terms and conditions on which orders would qualify for a donation, which the ACCC alleges Grill'd did not adequately disclose to customers. Some conditions required customers to be members of Grill'd's Relish loyalty program, and only dine-in orders made at the front counter of one of the stores qualified; online orders or those made via table QR codes did not. In a statement, the ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said: "We consider this to be a form of greenwashing … Grill'd is a large fast-food chain and operates across Australia, meaning that its conduct had the potential to mislead many consumers nationwide about the environmental benefits of their purchase."
Allan said the biggest risk to working people was a "One Nation show that's opposed every wage rise for workers" and a "Liberal outfit that can't govern without One Nation, indeed, would be the junior partner to One Nation": "That means cuts to services, cuts to wages, and what we need now more than ever before at this time is a government that steps in." She also lashed the Liberal party for failing to rule out a preference deal with One Nation. Allan suggested Labor would never preference One Nation above the Coalition: "The Labor party's views on One Nation have never changed. We've always fought them because they are about cuts to workers' wages, cuts to services, and they don't believe in a government that steps in and helps working people. What we are seeing, though, is that it's the Liberal party who's changed. The Labor party has been consistent and clear for decades on this question. We are now seeing the Liberal Party abandon any sense of decency and principle … They had it in the 90s … Now, in a desperate attempt to save their own skin, they are talking about doing a deal with One Nation."
Victorian Labor MPs are about to hold their final caucus meeting before the parliamentary winter break - a gathering that was considered the final opportunity to launch a leadership spill against Jacinta Allan. However, the momentum for a spill fizzled out after her most likely contender, the deputy premier, Ben Carroll, told reporters yesterday he wanted his daughter to grow up "knowing that I supported Jacinta Allan to be a world-class premier and get re-elected in her own right." There was also an awkward moment during yesterday's press conference when Carroll looked the premier in the eye and told her he would not launch a challenge against her on Tuesday. Asked if Carroll's comments yesterday meant there would be no challenge today, Allan told reporters this morning: "You heard very clearly from the deputy premier yesterday, myself and other colleagues. We are a strong and united team who understand very clearly who we are here to represent." She said "working people and families need a Labor government that is focused on them." Allan went on: "[I am] not interested and focused on anonymous gossip. We've got to get on and do the hard work. I do acknowledge that we are in times where families and working people are feeling more challenging than ever before. There's a confluence of factors that are being experienced today here in Victoria and around the world that is putting huge pressure on household budgets."
The Albanese government will let KPMG receive extensions on its hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of contracts even though the firm is barred from bidding for new work. Katy Gallagher yesterday said she expected the Australian government would not engage KPMG "on any new contracts" and her department had asked the firm not to apply after allegations KPMG partners had leaked confidential client information to colleagues. But Gallagher today confirmed existing contracts could be extended. She told Radio National: "They're stopping bidding for work. That doesn't extend to current contracts with KPMG, for reasons that are under contract, essentially." Extensions would be applicable for some active KPMG contracts expiring on 30 June, worth $331m, and another $94m expiring by 30 September, when the blacklist is set to lift. Government tender data shows a further $203m in federal contracts with KPMG will not expire until after September. The government has executed, or will execute, at least 32 contracts with KPMG, since the allegations became public on 24 March.