AFL State of Origin to return next year, WA to host Victoria in Perth
Mike Hytner
The AFL’s marquee State of Origin fixture will return next year to end a 27-year hiatus, with Western Australia to host Victoria in Perth on Valentine’s Day. After a clamour from fans and players for the state-based rivalry’s return, the 2026 game will be played at Optus Stadium.
The last time an Origin game was contested between state teams was in 1999, when Victoria beat South Australia by 54 points at the MCG, but South Australia was overlooked this time after strong lobbying from the Western Australian government.
It follows a successful Indigenous All-Stars clash at Optus Stadium earlier this year, when 37,865 fans turned out to watch the representative side beat the Fremantle Dockers. AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says:
State football is one of the great traditions of our game, with fans and players alike calling for its return for some time and we are thrilled to see it back.
Origin inspires passion, state pride and draws upon years’ old rivalries that are central to the history of our game and our very greatest players. It will be a special moment to see a Big V and a Sandgroper jumper back on the field before we start our 2026 AFL premiership season.
Key events
Albanese laments moving his electorate office because of ‘aggressive protesters’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has told ABC Perth he has relocated his Sydney electorate office because people attending funerals at a church next door were being abused by protesters.
Albanese announced the decision yesterday, saying his hand had been forced by repeated protests outside the office in the inner-west suburb of Marrickville. Many of those protests have been against the war in Gaza. He said in a statement on Sunday:
Sadly, over the past two years, aggressive protesters have repeatedly blocked access to the electorate office for people seeking assistance.
This has also significantly affected churchgoers attending the neighbouring St Clements Church, including disruption to funerals and other church services.
The office will reopen in a new location in the electorate of Grayndler soon, he said.
Albanese told the ABC today that:
People were being abused going to funerals.
It just does my head in that people think that a cause is advanced by that sort of behaviour.
Andrew Messenger
Man charged after allegedly making Nazi salute at Lions-Suns AFL game
A 39-year-old man has been charged with allegedly making a Nazi salute at the weekend’s Lions-Suns AFL game in Brisbane, according to Queensland police.
The man allegedly made the salute during the national anthem and welcome to country before the game, according to Mark Kelly, acting deputy commissioner for regional operations. He was arrested at the ground during the game, Kelly says.
Kelly says police acted on reports from other people at the match.
He says the man is not believed to have planned to commit the act in advance and police have not identified any links he has with far-right groups.
He was charged with one count of public display of giving Nazi salute and has been issued with a lifetime ban from the AFL.
AFL State of Origin to return next year, WA to host Victoria in Perth
Mike Hytner
The AFL’s marquee State of Origin fixture will return next year to end a 27-year hiatus, with Western Australia to host Victoria in Perth on Valentine’s Day. After a clamour from fans and players for the state-based rivalry’s return, the 2026 game will be played at Optus Stadium.
The last time an Origin game was contested between state teams was in 1999, when Victoria beat South Australia by 54 points at the MCG, but South Australia was overlooked this time after strong lobbying from the Western Australian government.
It follows a successful Indigenous All-Stars clash at Optus Stadium earlier this year, when 37,865 fans turned out to watch the representative side beat the Fremantle Dockers. AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says:
State football is one of the great traditions of our game, with fans and players alike calling for its return for some time and we are thrilled to see it back.
Origin inspires passion, state pride and draws upon years’ old rivalries that are central to the history of our game and our very greatest players. It will be a special moment to see a Big V and a Sandgroper jumper back on the field before we start our 2026 AFL premiership season.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland government to appeal Emma Lovell killer’s sentence to high court
Queensland attorney general Deb Frecklington will appeal to the high court to increase the sentence for Emma Lovell’s killer.
The man – who cannot be identified because he was 17 at the time of offending – was convicted of Lovell’s murder, on Boxing Day, 2022. He was initially sentenced to serve 14 years in prison, and was set a non-parole period of 70% of the total.
But in August, the Queensland court of appeal reduced the non-parole period by about a year-and-a-half, to 60% of his total sentence.
Frecklington says the state government will argue that the court was wrong to find that “special circumstances” existed. Frecklington says:
I’m not ever going to apologise for my direction here to ensure that we do apply for special aid to the high court, irrespective of the outcome, because we have made a commitment to the people of Queensland that we will keep them safe, and that is exactly what we do.
What this is about is to ensure that [Emma’s husband] Lee Lovell and his daughters know that we will leave no stone unturned in relation to the offender’s sentence.
Hiker found safe in Snowy Mountains after eight days
Penry Buckley
A man who went missing while hiking in the Snowy Mountains has been found safe, eight days after he was last heard from, police say.
In a statement, New South Wales police say the man, 57, set out backcountry skiing and hiking from Guthega power station in Kosciuszko national park on 4 September, and was last heard from two days later.
Police launched a land and air search that found him near Valentine Hut, in the Snowy Mountains back country area at 1pm yesterday. He has not required medical treatment.
NSW police:
Police would also like to remind members of the public that when heading out for a hike or a bush walk, people should have a fully charged mobile phone, along with additional charging devices.
A man who went hiking and skiing in the Snowy Mountains has been located safe.
Following ongoing searches, at 1.00pm on Sunday, 14 September 2025, the man was located safe in the Snowy Mountains back country area near Valentines Hut, in the Kosciuszko National Park.
MORE… pic.twitter.com/oBpqGGdgWu
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) September 14, 2025
Head of Asic says ANZ has ‘betrayed the trust of Australians’ and ‘needs to change’
Joseph Longo, the chair of Asic, is speaking after announcing a landmark penalty against ANZ earlier this morning. Longo said:
Time and time again, ANZ has fallen short. Time and time again, ANZ has betrayed the trust of Australians.
Trust is essential in financial services. Customers, government and regular need to be able to trust that banks will deliver what they promise and uphold appropriate standards of behaviour. Today, many Australians will be questioning their trust in ANZ.
The fundamental and significant issues require urgent attention and the ANZ board and its executives need to reflect upon them. ANZ needs to change.
Read more:
‘The cost of action is smaller than the cost of inaction’
Chris Bowen maintained there is still time to rein in the worst effects of climate change, saying that while Australians are already living in a changed world, “it’s not too late to avoid the worst of the impacts”.
He said:
As the report makes clear, the difference in terms of impact between 1.5 to 2 degrees [Celsius warming above preindustrial levels], let alone 3, is very real for Australia.
It’s also important that we remember while this report is clearly confronting, the economic evidence of action for our country is one with the best renewable energy resources in the world is very real. We have the best renewable resources, we have great jobs and investment opportunities so if we get it right, the opportunity for our country is enormous, just as a risk if we get it wrong is very real.
Bowen added:
The cost of action is smaller than the cost of inaction, under any scenario.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The report finds millions of Australians are at risk from rising sea levels
The number of heat-related deaths in Sydney could surge by almost 450% if global heating surpasses 3 degrees, according to a landmark report that finds no Australian community would be immune from the “cascading, compounding and concurrent” risks of a worsening climate.
The report also lays bare the heightened risk from rising sea levels on Australia’s populous coastal communities, including flooding, erosion and inundation.
It found that by 2050, 1.5m coastal residents would be at risk, rising to more than 3m by 2090.
The federal government on Monday released the long-awaited national climate risk assessment, providing the most detailed picture of the severe and far-reaching social and economic impact of the climate crisis for Australia.
Read more here:
Bowen says ‘every Australian has a lot at stake’ in climate crisis
Chris Bowen, the climate change minister, is holding a press conference after the release of a major new report that finds no Australian community would be immune from the “cascading” risks of worsening climate change.
Bowen said:
One thing that is very clear from this climate assessment is that the whole country has a lot at stake. Every Australian, regardless of where they live, has a lot at stake.
Importantly, the report makes clear that the pattern of natural disasters that Australians are used to is not a reliable guide into the future.
The minister added: “It’s important that we don’t gild the lily or downplay its impacts in any way. We have to be honest to the Australian people”.
Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of Australia’s electricity in first half of 2025
The rooftop solar boom hit a new milestone in the first half of the year, with 12.8% of all electricity generation coming from the panels, according to a new report from the Clean Energy Council. That’s an increase from 11.5% in the same period a year ago, and up from just 6% in 2020.
There were more than 115,000 rooftop solar units installed across Australia in the first half of 2025, an 18% decrease from the same period a year ago. Rooftop solar remains on track to deliver what’s needed to the national target of 82% of electricity coming from clean energy sources by 2030.
Another key findingwas battery sales hitting record highs, with 85,000 units sold in the first half of 2025, bolstered by government incentives making the systems more affordable. That figure is a 191% increase over the same period last year.
