The Government's economic reform roundtable kicks off in Canberra
Published 19 August 2025, 8:51 am
Nuisance tariffs and a levy on businesses to fund worker training are among the proposals debated behind closed doors on the first day of the federal government's three-day economic roundtable. A hand-picked group of business representatives, politicians and unions have gathered in Canberra for the economic talks. The Treasurer says engagement has been "outstanding".
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ABC News
26 minutes ago
- ABC News
As Bruce Lehrmann re-enters the 'lion's den', his defamation appeal centres on four main points
When Bruce Lehrmann wanders back into the "lion's den" of the Federal Court of Australia today he won't be looking for his hat. Rather, he'll be seeking to strike out the truth defence which scuttled his defamation claim against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. The main target of his challenge is the finding that — on the balance of probabilities — he did rape his former colleague Brittany Higgins in the office of their boss Senator Linda Reynolds, at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019. It's important to note Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence, and there are no criminal findings against him. His ACT Supreme Court trial was abandoned because of a juror's misconduct, and the charge was later dropped. Mr Lehrmann maintains that although he wasn't named in the interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project, he was identifiable, and thus was defamed. His problem is that "truth" is a defence in a defamation case, justifying actions that would otherwise fall foul of the law. When Justice Michael Lee found the allegation was "on the balance of probabilities" true, Mr Lehrmann's hopes of pressing his claim for damages stalled. The appeal has four grounds, including that the justification defence in the judgement was different to the case put forward by Network Ten and the material had not been put to the relevant witnesses, in a breach of procedural fairness. But even though Justice Lee found the allegation true, he didn't accept the portrayal of events presented on The Project when Ms Higgins said she had said "no" several times "on a loop". "I have not reached a level of satisfaction that during the sexual act Ms Higgins said, 'no on a loop', and I think it is more likely than not that she did not, or was not, able to articulate anything," Justice Lee said. "On balance, I find it is more likely than not that she was passive (as she later said, 'like a log') during the entirety of the sexual act." Mr Lehrmann's case said Ten hadn't established the defence of justification. The appeal also challenges the assessment the judge made about what was conveyed to an ordinary, reasonable person. And Mr Lehrmann says the Judge erred when he decided — if he'd succeeded in his case — he "was entitled to a mere $20,000 in damages". Ten was ultimately awarded $2 million in costs, although the court has stayed that until the appeal is heard. No-one imagines the money will be collected, since Mr Lehrmann's dire financial situation is now well known. It was Justice Lee himself who described the controversial case as a "cause celebre" and an "omnishambles". The public interest never waned from the criminal trial in Canberra, to the Federal Court trial in Sydney in 2023 and 2024. Indeed, the defamation trial was in part a repeat of the criminal trial, but with more detail. Both Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann gave evidence over several days, the first time the latter was cross-examined on his account of the night in question. Brittany Higgins, who was not subject to the defamation action, gave evidence over several days. And Bruce Lehrmann himself gave evidence in person which he hadn't in the criminal trial. This time around, the journalists who prepared the story, including Lisa Wilkinson, were also called to give evidence. And then there was the spectacular appearance of the Seven Network's Taylor Auerbach. The trial was re-opened to hear Mr Auerbach's evidence about how he had acted as a babysitter for Mr Lehrmann, as he was reeled in for his own interviews, with the Spotlight program. There were allegations of expensive dinners — and invoices for money used to buy drugs and sex workers — as well as the revelation that Mr Lehrmann had been given a lease on a property for a year to secure his exclusive interview. The Seven Network, which was not part of the defamation proceeding, said it did not reimburse Bruce Lehrmann for expenditure allegedly used to pay for illegal drugs or sex workers. Ms Higgins was not spared either. She was forced to reveal to the court that her previously confidential settlement with the Commonwealth was $2.4 million. It's now well known the night began when Mr Lehrmann joined Ms Higgins and other colleagues for drinks at The Dock bar on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra in March 2019. The pair went on to another venue, with two others, before ending up at Parliament House. Ms Higgins told The Project it was there she was sexually assaulted by Mr Lehrmann. She later told Ms Wilkinson in her interview she woke up "mid-rape", and that she cried and told him to stop at least half a dozen times. In the interview, she said she'd been left on the couch in a state of undress. Mr Lehrmann denied any sexual activity took place. He said they'd gone there to drink whiskey and that he'd been making Question Time notes. In his judgement, Justice Lee was highly critical of Mr Lehrmann, describing his account of the night as an "elaborate fancy". "… his attachment to the truth was a tenuous one, informed not by faithfulness to his affirmation but by fashioning his responses in what he perceived to be his forensic interests." But Justice Lee did not spare Ms Higgins either. "Ms Brittany Higgins, Mr Lehrmann's accuser, was also an unsatisfactory witness who made some allegations that made her a heroine to one group of partisans, but when examined forensically, have undermined her general credibility to a disinterested fact-finder," he said. Clearly Justice Lee's judgement supports Ms Higgins claim she was sexually assaulted. But his findings target other aspects of The Project program, including the claims of a cover-up. Justice Lee said the notion Ms Higgins had been forced to choose between her career and justice may have won the program a "glittering prize", but when examined properly it was supposition without reasonable foundation. Justice Lee found Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson should have done more to examine the inconsistencies in Ms Higgins's account. These are findings likely to be deployed in this week's appeal. Network Ten tried hard to avoid the situation altogether, offering to settle with Mr Lehrmann. But he refused, despite settling with the ABC, as well as with journalist Samantha Maiden and her employer after she was the first to publish an online story about the allegations.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Consumer confidence soars on the latest RBA move on rates
A surprising group of Australians are feeling better about their personal finances and the broader economy after the Reserve Bank's August rate cut gave households a much-needed confidence boost. The latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey showed consumer sentiment jumped 5.7 per cent to 98.5 in August. This was its highest level in nearly four years. A score of 100 or better suggests Australians are optimistic about the future. But the soaring consumer sentiment is not coming from the group of people you would expect to benefit from lower rates. Westpac head of Australian macro-forecasting Matthew Hassan said overall consumers were feeling better about cost of living. 'Interestingly, the gains are not confined to or even being led by the mortgage belt, the section of consumers that stand to benefit most directly from lower interest rates,' he said. 'Some of the strongest improvements in the August month were among renters, suggesting that easing cost-of-living pressures – including slower growth in rents – has also been a positive.' Mr Hassan said the sharp pick up in consumer sentiment came just days after the RBA lowered the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.60 per cent. 'The RBA's forecasts also imply that rates will likely need to be a little lower to keep the economy on track, a point the RBA governor highlighted in the post-decision press conference' he said. 'That looks to have reinforced consumer expectations that mortgage interest rates are headed lower, giving a broadbased boost to sentiment.' It was the third interest rate cut of the cycle, with cash-strapped mortgage holders getting 75 basis points of rate relief since February. Consumer sentiment first ticked up after the income tax cuts in the middle of last year and steadily rose on the back of each RBA rate cut. Although there was a pause in sentiment in April when Australians feared the worst when US President Donald Trump announced his tariff policy The rise was broadbased, with all five measures Westpac-Melbourne Institute lifted over the month. The biggest lift was consumers feeling about their personal finances. The 'family finances vs. a year ago' sub-index surged 6.2 per cent in August to 84.2, still a pessimistic read but only marginally below the long-run average of 88, while expectations about the 'family finances over the next 12 months' are up 5.4 per cent to 106.8. Australians are also starting to feel optimistic about making big purchases. The 'time to buy a major item' sub-index jumped to optimistic in the month of August as crossing the 100 mark. The RBA rate cut gave a substantial boost to housing-related sentiment. The 'time to buy a dwelling' index jumped 10.5 per cent to 97.8, a new four-year high and up 37 per cent on a year ago, albeit still well below the historic rate of 120. Mr Hassan said the long run of consumer pessimism may finally be coming to an end, although he pointed out households should not expect back-to-back rate cuts. 'Further easing will likely be needed to sustain gains,' he said. However, he said the RBA did not need to rush to cut rates further. 'Inflation is inside the RBA's target range and likely to stay there but the unemployment rate is still low by historical standards,' he said. 'We expect the board to take things meeting by meeting and respond to the flow of data as it comes in.' The RBA monetary policy board next meets on September 29-30.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Drill to Kill: How Ballard plans to grow its already bountiful Mt Ida gold project
WA's gold fields have plenty more large scale discoveries to be made With Ballard Mining's advanced 930,000oz Baldock deposit and 26km of largely unexplored greenstone, its Mt Ida project has potential to upsize 130,000m of drilling planned after $30m IPO and spinoff from lithium junior Delta Lithium Is the Western Australia's gold scene too drilled out for world class discoveries, or is that fear just a crisis of imagination? Recent developments in WA's gold sector show discoveries can deliver over and over again. De Grey Mining's 11.2Moz Hemi gold discovery near Port Hedland put the cat among the pigeons. And since that 2020 find, which turned the minnow into a $6bn takeover prey for Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST), well-trodden turf across the state has delivered revelations. Spectrum Metals, Musgrave Minerals and Spartan Resources have all posted high-grade gold discoveries in the Mid West that sit within the portfolio of Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS). Spartan's 2.3Moz Never Never and Pepper deposits were located just 1km from its processing plant in the mature Dalgaranga gold field. Former De Grey chair Simon Lill, now the chair of WA gold explorers Ballard Mining (ASX:BM1) and Kairos Minerals (ASX:KAI), says the geos at De Grey were confident another orebody of the scale of Hemi is lurking somewhere in the WA outback. "It's amazing that most of Australia's still under cover, really. And as they're getting better at techniques of looking beneath the cover they're starting to find more materials," he said at the Diggers and Dealers mining forum in Kalgoorlie this month. Other mines which once had short lives have been shown to go on, seemingly, forever – think Northern Star's Super Pit, Jundee and Carosue Dam, Ramelius' Checkers, Catalyst Metals' (ASX:CYL) Plutonic and Westgold Resources ' (ASX:WGX) Big Bell. Those success stories open a tantalising window into a possible future for the ASX's newest WA gold explorer Ballard and its 1.1Moz Mt Ida gold project. Mt Ida includes 930,000oz at 4.1g/t alone at the Baldock deposit, a potential open pit that forms the basis of a future mining hub, drilled before the company's spin-off from Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI). "We've got 1Moz here already without really trying, and it's still just scratching the surface, so who knows how big that can become," Lill said. "Some of the discoveries from the '80s that Ed Eshuys was involved with, they're still mining. "At the time, they got up and operating on a seven-year mine life. They're still operating." The potential Tasked with bringing that vision to life is managing director Paul Brennan, a veteran of WA's Goldfields. He was the general manager of Carosue Dam for Saracen Mineral Holdings when the mine poured its millionth ounce of gold. It's still going strong eight years on. "One of my favourite sayings is the best spot to find a new mine is at an existing mine," Brennan said. "When I was there, we went through this organic shift from open pit mining to underground mining. "And then once we actually got underground and established some underground diamond drill positions, we were able to drill from a position that was favourable to the resource rather than drilling Hail Mary's from surface, which are very expensive. "Those orebodies just continue to grow. "Karari and (Whirling) Dervish still underpin Carosue Dam's production." Ballard is uniquely placed to make those additional discoveries early. Armed with $30m in fresh capital from its July IPO, the high-powered junior is already trading well above the offer price at 45c and is using that cash to fund two distinct drill drives. Newly listed and with four rigs already on the ground, around 100km west of the Goldfields town of Leonora, one is an 80,000m program to infill and expand Baldock and the other a 50,000m program to make new discoveries across 26km of largely untested greenstone hosted shear zones. "Baldock, we've only really drilled it down to 350 metres, so there's certainly opportunity to extend that at depth," Brennan said. "But we want to hunt it along strike first just to find the edges. " And then secondly, the exploration drilling – this is probably a little bit different from Saracen in that there's a genuine underexplored nature at Mount Ida, 26 kilometres of prospective greenstone with an average drill hole depth of 40 metres. "Something like only 670 holes have been drilled at Mount Ida since Baldock was discovered in 2001." Majors on board The nature of Ballard's journey to the ASX means it has a uniquely powerful register for a new explorer. Delta itself controls around 46% of the stock, with legacy DLI investors Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) rounding out the top 3. Japanese trading house Idemitsu is there as well, along with well known Aussie funds Nero Resources Fund, Precision Funds Management and Argonaut, and former Northern Star Resources boss Bill Beament. International instos IFM and 1832 Asset Management are on board as well, a huge fillip for Ballard when it does come time to raise capital to develop the Baldock mine. "We've been very fortunate to attract that calibre (of investor) and knowing that they'll be there in a couple of years' time when we hopefully do look to build it. You'd expect there to be supportive shareholders," Brennan said. Exploration focus Ballard sits in an enviable position, and stands as a logical M&A prospect either in concert with the privately owned Aurenne Group's Mt Ida project just 6km to the south or a larger player further a field like Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) or Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD). But Brennan says the focus is not on an endgame. "We're all friends, we all know each other. There'll be just ongoing casual chats in that space ... as good neighbours do. But you've got to be in control of your own destiny. Hope is not a strategy," he said. Rather, the big prize is seeing how substantial Ballard can make its Mt Ida deposits, and what might be lurking at up to 20 prospects already identified across the vast tract of greenstone under the company's control. Alongside its strong register, Ballard's battle hardened board brings with it a wealth of experience operating in WA's gold sector. With Brennan is non-exec chair Lill, fresh from his success at De Grey, along with former Ramelius Resources CFO Tim Manners as finance director and Delta MD James Croser as a non-executive director. The other non-exec director, and one of two independent directors with Lill, is Stuart Mathews, recently retired from his role as Australasian head of Gold Fields, one of the world's biggest gold miners. "He's used to looking at big camp-scale projects, big exploration budgets," Brennan said. "Our two independent non-execs, they're both suggesting that we just need to understand how big this thing is or potentially could be, before we start betting down flow sheets and production rates and start talking about feasibility studies." Drill to kill Brennan says the aim is to "drill to kill". "Someone said to me a couple of weeks ago, you've got to take the pharmaceutical approach and just drill to kill," he said. "And if you can't kill it, there's an orebody there. "We've got 18 to 20 identified prospects to make our way through. "The early results have been encouraging but I'd like to think we're going to be reasonably mercenary about how we go about this exploration drilling. "We're not worried about trying to keep ourselves gainfully employed for the next five years. We just want to get on with it and we've got the money in the bank to do that." The understated upside for Ballard is how simple its permitting will be, in a world where that aspect of mine building is getting more arduous and costly by the day. Its assets sit on granted mining leases with no native title concerns. And BM1 has already submitted a works approval application to approve a 1.5Mtpa carbon in leach processing plant and tailings facility ahead of mining and environmental studies. "That's been a sort of six to eight month process. We're nearly there. If we want to go back to DWER (WA's Department of Water and Environmental Regulation) and amend that, maybe that's a three or four month exercise. So we're quietly derisking the project in the background." With Baldock's advanced nature, the geology is also at a far more progressed state than you'd expect from an $82m capped explorer. "We see Baldock providing the first five or six years of the mine life. And then what we're trying to achieve with the exploration drilling is you start to get visibility over the production years six to 10," Brennan said. "That's the benchmark for building an operation of standalone scale."
