Eileen Bond, first wife of Alan Bond, dead at 87
Eileen Bond, the first wife of Western Australian business tycoon Alan Bond, has died of a stroke at age 87.
The couple were married in 1955 when they were both 17 years old and had four children together before divorcing in 1992.
John Bond, Eileen’s son with Alan, told ABC Perth radio his mother had “lived life to the fullest” to the end.
She had an extraordinary ability just to relate to people.
She came over last weekend dressed in a tutu and leggings with her big sunglasses and big earrings, and my granddaughters were just blown away and just wanted to know how they could dress like her, and that pretty much summed her up. She related to all ages, she was happy and I think that was very symptomatic of the way she was right to the very end.
Her late husband declared bankruptcy the same year they divorced and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1997 after pleading guilty to business fraud. He died in 2015.
Key events
Calls for federal paid placement scheme to include students working across allied health
The Health Services Union (HSU) is calling on the federal government to extend its new paid placements to students working across allied health, not just in key industries.
The payment, which came into effect on 1 July, offers $331 a week to eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students undertaking a mandatory placement.
Aside from social workers, all allied health students are excluded from the scheme, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, podiatrists, pharmacists, radiation therapists and psychologists.
HSU national secretary, Lloyd Williams, said the payments would make a “huge difference” to thousands of students but “it makes no sense that the critical professions that fall under allied health are excluded”.
Leaving allied health behind has a major gender impact because it is a feminised workforce. For example, 98% of speech pathologists are women. Some students are travelling hours from home and are forced to pay accommodation and other costs just to complete their mandatory placement with no financial help whatsoever.
Often they’re completing thousands of hours of placements and taking time off their casual jobs without receiving a cent to help them keep their heads above water. We risk turning a workforce crisis into a catastrophe if we don’t break down barriers to study like placement poverty.
Greens to propose independent early childhood education and care watchdog
The Greens say new early childhood education and care safety measures announced by state and federal governments this week are not sufficient to keep children safe and a national, independent watchdog is required.
The independent commission was first proposed by the Greens in April after allegations of malpractice in the sector by Four Corners. It was costed at $1.5bn over the forward estimates.
The Greens spokesperson for early childhood education and care, Senator Steph Hodgins-May, will raise the watchdog when parliament resumes in just over a fortnight.
Earlier this week, the Greens called for a royal commission into the safety and quality of early childhood education and care, but were dismissed by the federal government who said there had already been a commission into child abuse.
Hodgins-May said an independent watchdog would “enforce quality standards, act swiftly on safety breaches, and drive a shift toward universal, high-quality care – not just retrospective patch-ups”.
Families are feeling anxious and are counting on us to act now. Reactive Band-Aid solutions won’t keep children safe or move us towards the child-centred system we need for the future.
Andrew Messenger
Federal funding confirmed for Queensland venues, including new stadium
The federal government will financially back the Queensland government’s new Victoria Park stadium plan.
Federal infrastructure minister Catherine King made the announcement after appearing as a self-described “surprise addition” at a Queensland Media Club event on Thursday, with the deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie. The event was advertised as giving an update on plans for the games.
King said:
An agreement with Queensland will see both governments work together to deliver 16 new and upgraded venues across the state and a new Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park. For us, it is about ensuring that when we hand the keys back after the closing ceremony, Queensland has the infrastructure it needs to build on this incredible legacy.
In another surprise, King and Bleijie signed a new funding agreement on the games at the event.
It means the federal government will shift funding from the Brisbane Live Arena to the stadium. King announced that the venue would host both opening and closing ceremonies.
Jordyn Beazley
Calls for Minns to repeal protest laws in wake of Hannah Thomas’ injury
A collective of human rights groups and a union have alleged that NSW police misused their power when attempting to move protesters on before Hannah Thomas was seriously injured.
Thomas, 35, a former Greens candidate who ran against the prime minister at the federal election, was arrested at a pro-Palestine protest in Belmore – which was attended by about 60 people on Friday – and was charged by police with resisting arrest and failing to comply with a direction to disperse.
She was subsequently taken to hospital and underwent surgery and expressed fears she could lose sight in her right eye after an interaction with police.
The letter, signed by the NSW Branch of the Australian Services Union, Amnesty International, Australian Democracy Network and the Jewish Council of Australia, said:
Reports from independent legal observers indicate that police gave move-on orders to individuals walking on the footpath near the intended protest site, on the basis of the protest being ‘unauthorised’. The Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) does not allow police to move individuals participating in a public assembly on for this reason.
Further, reports indicate that police may have used the recently introduced places of worship move on powers in the Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Act 2025… in relation to one person on the basis of a place of worship being located near the protest site, despite the protest not being targeted towards this place of worship or impeding access to it.
The group urged the NSW premier, Chris Minns, to repeal the new laws that restrict protests near places of worship in the wake of Hannah Thomas’ injury. They said the incident reinvigorated concerns “the new move on powers were overly broad, ill defined, and would be used, not to protect worshippers, but to shut down peaceful assemblies and democratic expression”.
The places of worship move on powers must be either urgently amended to ensure they cannot be misused, or repealed.
NSW police have said after a preliminary review of body-worn video of her arrest that there was no information to indicate misconduct. Police have launched a critical investigation into the incident which will be overseen by the independent police watchdog.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian opposition urges premier to reconvene parliament to pass childcare changes
The Victorian opposition has written to the premier, Jacinta Allan, urging her to reconvene parliament to pass any proposed changes to childcare safety rules after allegations of sexual abuse by a worker.
Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged in May with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims aged between five months and two years old, who attended a centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
After his case was revealed on Tuesday, Allan on Wednesday announced an urgent review of childcare safety, plans for a state-run staff register, new fines and potentially installing CCTV in all centres.
In the letter seen by Guardian Australia, the opposition leader, Brad Battin, and his party’s spokesperson for education, Jess Wilson, said they welcomed the review.
They said:
The Victorian Liberals and Nationals stand ready to support any findings and recommendations that strengthen protections for children in care. Given the potential need for urgent legislative reform, we believe it appropriate we take a formal role within the review process, with a view to securing swift passage through the parliament for any proposed reforms.
We urge you to recall parliament to pass immediate reforms and ensure the safety of children is not delayed by procedural timelines.
Parliament is currently on winter break until 29 July. The review’s recommendations aren’t expected until 15 August.
The government has committed to accepting all and implementing them “as quickly as possible”.
Battin and Wilson said:
Every parent has the right to expect their child will be safe when dropped off at childcare. We are committed to working constructively with your government to ensure every child is safe, supported and protected.
Eileen Bond, first wife of Alan Bond, dead at 87
Eileen Bond, the first wife of Western Australian business tycoon Alan Bond, has died of a stroke at age 87.
The couple were married in 1955 when they were both 17 years old and had four children together before divorcing in 1992.
John Bond, Eileen’s son with Alan, told ABC Perth radio his mother had “lived life to the fullest” to the end.
She had an extraordinary ability just to relate to people.
She came over last weekend dressed in a tutu and leggings with her big sunglasses and big earrings, and my granddaughters were just blown away and just wanted to know how they could dress like her, and that pretty much summed her up. She related to all ages, she was happy and I think that was very symptomatic of the way she was right to the very end.
Her late husband declared bankruptcy the same year they divorced and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1997 after pleading guilty to business fraud. He died in 2015.
The Australian share market has moved into the red as a rotation out of banking stocks and into the iron ore giants continues, AAP reports.
At noon AEST on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 31 points, or 0.36%, to 8,566.7, while the broader All Ordinaries had slipped 27.9 points or 0.32%, to 8,799.7.
Just three of the ASX’s 11 sectors were in the green at midday – health care, energy and materials.
The latter was the biggest gainer, rising 2.1% after China vowed to crack down on “disorderly low-price competition” in the steel industry and phase out some industrial capacity.
“The move shows China’s leaders are trying to tackle deflationary pressures weighing on the economy,” ANZ researchers Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes wrote in a note.
BHP was on track for its best day since April 10, rising 4.3% to $38.81. Rio Tinto had advanced 1.5%, Fortescue had climbed 0.9% and Mineral Resources was up 5.7%.
The big four banks were mostly lower, with CBA declining 1.6%, Westpac subtracting 1.0% and NAB down 1.3%. ANZ was the outlier, edging 0.2% higher.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.69 US cents, from 65.70 US cents at midday on Wednesday.
Man in his 50s dies after contracting bat lyssavirus
A man in his 50s has died after contracting the first case of Australian bat lyssavirus in New South Wales.
On Thursday afternoon, NSW Health expressed “sincere condolences to the man’s family and friends for their tragic loss”.
While it is extremely rare to see a case of Australian bat lyssavirus, there is no effective treatment for it.
NSW Health reminds the community to avoid touching or handling bats, as any bat in Australia could carry lyssavirus. Infected bats can transmit the virus to humans when its saliva enters the body via a bat bite or scratch.
It is crucial that anyone bitten or scratched by a bat seek urgent medical assessment.
Australian bat lyssavirus is a close relative to the rabies virus, NSW Health said, which has been found in species of flying foxes, fruit bats and insect-eating microbats.
Communities are dealing with fallen trees and powerlines, dam spillage and flying trampolines in the aftermath of a wild weather system that battered Australia’s east coast and is now bearing down on a popular small island, AAP reports.
The downpour was driven by a “vigorous” east coast low, which the Bureau of Meteorology predicts will move into the Tasman Sea on Thursday.
The “complex and rapidly deepening” system will continue to bringing rain, storms, windy conditions and elevated seas in coming days.
Residents on Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman Sea east of Port Macquarie, have been warned to prepare for the storm, with waves hitting more than five metres.
Sixth generation Islander Anthony Riddle, who runs a gin distillery business, said it was all part of the expected weather patterns during winter, with the roof of the police station blowing off the only notable casualty so far.
“The island’s quite resilient because you’ve got a lot of trees, and part of the building code on the island here is all the houses have to be built below the tree line,” he told AAP on Thursday.
There’s no houses on the foreshore, so we won’t have any houses affected by any coastal erosion. It’s business as usual.
With 380 residents, the island has a cap of 400 on the number of tourists allowed to visit at any one time and winter is the season when it is at its lowest.
Almost 2,000 claims lodged over east coast low, Insurance Council of Australia says
There have been just shy of 2,000 insurance claims lodged from the east coast low that has hit New South Wales this week, the Insurance Council of Australia has confirmed.
Appearing on ABC News, Matthew Jones from the council said this week’s damage had been “relatively modest” in terms of insurer losses.
The council still had people on the ground for hard-hit communities in far north Queensland for the February floods, parts of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales after ex-tropical cyclone Alfred, and the mid north coast and Hunter areas of NSW after last month’s flooding.
For ex-tropical cyclone Alfred, we’re actually seeing around 50% of claims have already been resolved, which is a great result. That’s partly because, although we fear the worst, it wasn’t as bad as everyone anticipated, and a lot of those claims were for pretty minor damage and they were able to be resolved quickly.
On the mid north coast and Hunter areas, that’s a much more recent event and we’re only just starting to see claims being finalised. Around 10% of those claims are finalised at this point.
Nine flights between Brisbane and Sydney cancelled
Nine flights have been cancelled today between Brisbane and Sydney due to weather conditions in New South Wales, Brisbane airport has confirmed.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said wind gusts of up to 81km/h were recorded at Brisbane airport yesterday evening – the strongest for the month of July since records began 26 years ago.
The BoM has a gale wind warning in place for the Macquarie coast, Hunter coast, Sydney coast and Illawarra coast, while a hazardous surf warning is also in place for New South Wales.
A severe weather warning also remains active for Lord Howe Island as the complex low pressure system moves eastward through the Tasman Sea.
The BoM said damaging surf with waves above five metres were expected in the surf zone until this evening.
These conditions may produce localised damage and coastal erosion, particularly about northwest facing beaches. Beach conditions in these areas could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed areas.
Rafqa Touma
Handing over the blog now to Caitlin Cassidy.
Lisa Cox
More on fire ants nest detected at Tweed Heads
The agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, said the quick response highlighted the success of work to educate communities in northern parts of the state about the threat posed by fire ants.
But the Invasive Species Council’s advocacy manager, Reece Pianta, said the detection of a nest at Tweed Heads was concerning and should be a “wake-up call for governments about the ongoing gaps in the national eradication program” and more investment was needed in suppression of fire ants and community education inside the biosecurity zone:
We have been warning governments for 18 months that, without urgent action to ramp up funding for suppression and community outreach in Queensland, it is only a matter of time before fire ants are discovered in Tweed Heads.
He said the council had confidence in the NSW government’s response to the latest detection but held concerns it was another instance of the invasive pest making its way over the border from Queensland in carrier materials.
Lisa Cox
Fire ants nest detected at Tweed Heads
A fire ants nest has been detected at a property at Tweed Heads in northern New South Wales, prompting the Invasive Species Council to warn about “ongoing gaps in the national eradication program”.
The NSW government said a biosecurity team responded to a report late Tuesday and treated and destroyed the nest on Wednesday morning.
The agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, said the nest was an immature nest, which means it is a non-reproductive nest, and staff had surveyed the immediate 500 metres surrounding the nest to check for any further fire ant activity.
A genetic analysis has commenced of the specimen of fire ant to try to determine the source.
Moriarty said:
The NSW Government is committed to proactive early detection surveillance, focusing on high-risk areas and employing advanced tracking and modelling techniques.
More to come in the next post.
