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Australia news live: James Valentine’s former colleagues pay tribute after death of broadcaster; rental vacancies at record low in most big cities | Australia news
James Valentine’s former colleagues pay tribute after death of broadcaster
Nick Miller
Friends and former colleagues of James Valentine say the much-loved musician and ABC radio presenter has died.
On social media, former Triple J and ABC Radio Sydney presenter Robbie Buck wrote this morning:
Vale to one of the greatest. The joyous, irrepressible & unbelievably sharp James Valentine has left us. What a wonderful human to have worked with. Thanks for all the laughs James. Godspeed.X
Another former colleague, Wendy Harmer, said:
Lovely, clever man. You will be so missed!
Valentine officially retired in February after almost 40 years, 25 of which he hosted Sydney’s Afternoons on ABC Radio.
The 64-year-old had oesophageal cancer and returned to treatment last year when new tumours were discovered.
Guardian Australia has approached the ABC for comment.
Key events
Mark Butler says he understands NDIS changes may be ‘confronting’
The health minister, Mark Butler, is making the rounds this morning after announcing major changes to the NDIS yesterday.
He said the intention of the changes were to secure the future of the scheme, which is not on financially sustainable footing. Butler told RN Breakfast:
I also understand that change, particularly significant change, is confronting to people. I wish I could say that change is not needed or not much needed, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The truth is that this scheme is, I think, at real risk in terms of its sustainability. We’ve not been able to get spending growth under control.
Butler maintained that the NDIS had expanded “well beyond” its original intent and is now “riddled with poor practice, fraud and rorts”.
Two NSW police officers injured in separate incidents overnight
A NSW police officer was allegedly assaulted and another allegedly struck by a vehicle during a spate of incidents in Sydney overnight.
Officials said in one incident in Chester Hill, in Sydney’s south west, emergency services were called after reports of shots fired. Officers attended the area and were later called to Auburn hospital, where a man, 26, had presented with gunshot wounds. Police attempted to speak to another man, aged 30, in the emergency department, before that man allegedly assaulted the officer, repeatedly punching him in the head.
The man was arrested and taken to the police station. He has since been charged with assault of a police officer in the execution of duty. The 26-year-old who was shot remains in critical condition.
In another, unconnected incident in Greenacre, also in Sydney’s south west, officers were patrolling the area when they spotted an allegedly stolen vehicle. When an officer approached the car at an intersection, the driver allegedly accelerated, pinning the officer between two vehicles.
The officer discharged his firearm, striking the car before it drove off. He was treated by ambulance crews and taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Officers later found a man suffering from a gunshot wound in Ryde. He was taken to hospital in stable condition under police guard. No charges have been laid, and investigations continue.
James Valentine’s former colleagues pay tribute after death of broadcaster
Nick Miller
Friends and former colleagues of James Valentine say the much-loved musician and ABC radio presenter has died.
On social media, former Triple J and ABC Radio Sydney presenter Robbie Buck wrote this morning:
Vale to one of the greatest. The joyous, irrepressible & unbelievably sharp James Valentine has left us. What a wonderful human to have worked with. Thanks for all the laughs James. Godspeed.X
Another former colleague, Wendy Harmer, said:
Lovely, clever man. You will be so missed!
Valentine officially retired in February after almost 40 years, 25 of which he hosted Sydney’s Afternoons on ABC Radio.
The 64-year-old had oesophageal cancer and returned to treatment last year when new tumours were discovered.
Guardian Australia has approached the ABC for comment.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Greens call for a rent freeze during the fuel crisis
The Greens are calling on Anthony Albanese to use Thursday’s meeting of the national cabinet to coordinate a country-wide rent freeze and a moratorium on evictions for the duration of the fuel crisis.
The prime minister will meet with premiers and chief ministers for the third time since the US and Israel’s war with Iran sent global energy prices spiralling.
The Greens want Albanese to take a leaf out of Scott Morrison’s Covid-19 playbook and work with the states and territories to shield renters from evictions.
The party is also renewing calls for a national freeze on rent increases – a policy it unsuccessfully pushed in the last term of parliament.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said:
Renters around the country are facing some of the worst housing insecurity in living memory. We saw a rare example during Covid of a government doing their job and protecting renters from the volatility of global economic circumstances by putting a ban on rent increases and evictions. There’s nothing stopping that happening again.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to snag the blog. Let’s get to it.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Mark Butler says NDIS funding changes necessary to get scheme back on track
Sweeping changes to the national disability insurance scheme are expected to save the federal budget $35bn over four years, the health minister, Mark Butler, has confirmed.
Butler announced a major overhaul yesterday to contain the scheme’s rising costs, including changes to eligibility rules that are expected to remove at least 160,000 participants from the program by 2030.
Instead of costing more than $70bn at the end of the decade, the NDIS budget will be brought down to about $55bn.
In an interview on ABC’s 7.30 program last night, Butler said the changes would save the federal budget about $35bn over four years.
The minister said that figure covered a recent $13bn blowout in the scheme’s projected cost over the four-year period, meaning the net saving was closer to $22bn.
He said:
It’s a significant figure but one that we are confident is necessary to get this thing back on track. After all, what we are trying to do is secure its future in the long term.
Butler met state and territory disability ministers after his announcement to the National Press Club, the first time his counterparts had been briefed on the shakeup.
He said the disability ministers wanted further detail, including the modelling that underpinned the changes.
But they were up for the challenge. Disability ministers are talking with participants every single day. They’re talking with disability providers and all of them are saying they want a better quality of service delivered to them.
They want, they want this sort of free-for-all market that’s grown up over the last 10 years or so cleaned up. They want to see the fraud cleaned up. They want to see more integrity into the system. So there’s a lot of enthusiasm for the job of getting this thing back on track.
Cheaper homes outpace luxury price growth
Jonathan Barrett
Properties valued below the price caps of the federal government’s 5% deposit guarantee scheme are rising faster than more expensive homes, according to analysis by Cotality.
Over the first six months since the scheme’s expansion, homes under the price caps increased in value by 6.7%, outpacing the 3.6% rise recorded for properties valued above the caps.
The 5% guarantee slashed the deposit requirements for a loan, reducing the savings wait time for many first-time homeowners.
The government significantly raised price caps in October, which allowed first home buyers to buy properties worth up to $1.5m in Sydney and $950,000 in Melbourne.
Cotality says several factors may explain the price movements with some buyers fast-tracking their purchases in anticipation of increased competition. Investors have also been very active, and may have bid up prices, according to the property analytics company.
Cotality says: “Overall, it is likely the first home buyer deposit guarantee will gradually lose its stimulatory power, with more homes exceeding the price thresholds and a growing portion of prospective buyers running into a finance hurdle that is set to rise further.”
There have been mixed reactions to the low deposit scheme. While it helps first homeowners better compete with investors, economists have warned it may also accelerate prices, making it harder for prospective buyers to find an affordable home.
Rental market is tightest on record as rents rise $25 a week
Luca Ittimani
Figures from Domain show that the rental market is tighter than ever, adding $25 a week to the typical advertised rent price.
Median rents in capital cities have climbed to $680 a week for houses and $675 for units. Price growth had slowed in 2025 but has now picked up in most cities.
The national vacancy rate is at a record low 0.7%, with levels of vacant rental stock at record lows in Sydney (0.6%), Perth (0.3%), and Darwin and Hobart (0.2%). Melbourne, the city with the highest vacancy rate, is sitting at just 1%, down from 1.6% in December.
With so few properties on the market, rents would be growing even faster if renters could afford to pay more – but they can’t, says Domain’s chief residential economist, Dr Nicola Powell.
Vacancy rates are lower than ever and supply remains incredibly tight, but rent growth is no longer accelerating everywhere. That tells us households simply can’t stretch any further.
Realestate.com.au found median advertised rents are up $30 a week in the first three months of 2026, to $680 a week, in data also released today.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Mark Butler told the ABC last night that the Albanese government’s sweeping changes to the national disability insurance scheme are expected to save the federal budget $35bn over four years. More coming up.
Data on the housing market today shows that properties valued below the price caps of the federal government’s 5% deposit guarantee scheme are rising faster than more expensive homes. Another set shows how the rental market is tigher than ever before. Details coming soon.
