16 News

Today, the Australian Government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on two individuals and two entities involved in financing North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs.

The North Korean entities and individuals sanctioned today facilitate North Korea’s use of fraudulent IT workers to raise revenue for the regime’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. These workers obtain remote employment while posing as nationals of other countries, constituting a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit North Korea’s export of labour.

These sanctions act on the findings of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which continues to expose the global networks North Korea uses to evade UN Security Council sanctions, and the serious cyber security risks those networks pose to affected businesses.

Australian sanctions reinforce our ongoing efforts, alongside international partners, to disrupt North Korea’s illicit revenue-generating networks and increase pressure on the regime to comply with its international obligations and abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

We are taking this action in coordination with international partners, including the European Union.

We call on North Korea to comply fully with UN Security Council resolutions and to take concrete steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.

For more information: Advisory Note – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) information technology (IT) workers.

Today I announce the appointment of Ms Rachel Moseley as Australia’s next Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation. 

At a time of heightened global risk, the Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation plays a key role in advancing Australia’s security interests and efforts to reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.

Ms Moseley will lead Australia’s ongoing advocacy to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, including the use of chemical and biological weapons, and support the effective regulation of conventional arms.

She will also drive practical action to strengthen non-proliferation, reduce nuclear risks, and advance disarmament, while promoting Australia’s commitment to set the highest non-proliferation standard in its acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.

Ms Moseley is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently Assistant Secretary, Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch.

She has previously served overseas as Australia’s Ambassador to Mexico, Deputy Head of Mission in Port Moresby, First Secretary in Mexico and Second Secretary at the Australian Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

I thank outgoing Ambassador Vanessa Wood for her contributions to advancing Australia’s global arms-control interests since 2023.

Today I announce the appointment of Dr Derek Bopping as Australia’s next Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Artificial Intelligence and Critical Technology. 

Cyber, artificial intelligence and other critical technologies are reshaping every dimension of international relations. They are fundamental to Australia’s national security and economic resilience, the protection and realisation of human rights and freedoms, global prosperity, sustainable development and international stability.

For Australia, leadership in these fields is a foreign policy priority, central to safeguarding our sovereignty and advancing our strategic interests in an increasingly contested geopolitical environment.

Dr Bopping is a senior officer with the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and was most recently its Head of Preparedness and Business Optimisation and Head of ASD’s State Office in Melbourne.

He previously served overseas in Washington D.C. and has headed ASD’s Cyber Engagement and Strategy Division, and the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre for the Department of Home Affairs.

Dr Bopping’s leadership in building cybersecurity partnerships across government and industry equips him to advance Australia’s strategic interests and strengthen international cooperation on cyber, AI and critical technology.

I thank outgoing Ambassador Jessica Hunter for her contributions to advancing Australia’s interests on cyber affairs and critical technology since 2025.

The Victorian Greens have slammed the Coalition’s plan to sell off Melbourne’s wholesale fruit and vegetable market, warning that at a time when Victorians are struggling with soaring grocery prices and a cost-of-living crisis, the last thing we need is more privatisation. Decades of selling off essential public assets have shown that privatisation puts corporate profits ahead of the public interest, leaving everyday people to foot the bill.

While Labor has no serious plan to bring down grocery prices and the Liberals want to privatise critical public infrastructure, the Greens want to establish publicly owned supermarkets selling essentials for 30% less than Coles and Woolworths.

Aiv Puglielli MP, Victorian Greens spokesperson for Economic Justice:

“Labor has no plan to make groceries cheaper. The Liberals want to privatise our wholesale fruit and veg market. The Greens want to open publicly owned supermarkets. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.

“At a time when Victorians are paying through the nose for groceries, the Liberals’ big idea is to sell off our wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

“We all know what happens when essential public assets are privatised. Corporate profits come first, and everyday people are left paying the price.

“While Labor sits on its hands and the Liberals dream up new things to privatise, the Greens have a plan to take on Coles and Woolworths and make essential groceries 30% cheaper at publicly owned local supermarkets.

Only the Greens will make buying groceries cheaper while backing Aussie farmers.”

The Victorian Greens say Labor’s latest housing announcement fails to address the biggest barrier facing young Victorians trying to buy their first home – the skyrocketing cost of housing.

Under Victorian Labor’s plan announced today, $1 billion in state public funding and government-owned land will be used to deliver more than 25,000 homes that will ultimately be sold at market prices.

The Greens say Labor should be using public land and public money to bring down the cost of buying a home and deliver genuinely affordable public housing, rather than prioritising expensive private developments.

The announcement comes as Labor pushes ahead with its plan to demolish all 44 of Melbourne’s public housing towers, displacing thousands of residents and handing valuable public housing land over for private development.

the Victorian Greens housing spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri:

“Spending $1 billion in public money and land should be an opportunity for us to build genuinely affordable public homes and homes that young people and first home buyers can actually afford, not for them to have to bid against each other on homes already inflated and distorted by a broken housing market.”

“Selling these homes at market rate fails to tackle the biggest barrier first home buyers are facing and that’s the cost. After 12 years in power, Labor’s housing plan consists of demolishing and privatising public housing, handing over public land for private development, and more tax breaks for property investors.”

“Labor’s refusing to reduce the cost of buying a home for first home buyers even when the opportunity is sitting there on a platter. If Labor really wants to help young people and first home buyers, they should look at the Greens plan to cut stamp duty, freeze and cap rents and double the number of public homes to actually bring down the cost for people.”

The Victorian Greens have slammed Labor for politicising Victoria’s public service and using taxpayer-funded resources for its own political promotion, following a damning Auditor-General’s report revealing serious breaches of political neutrality requirements.

The Greens are calling for tougher enforcement of existing laws, stronger independent oversight and urgent reforms to protect the independence of Victoria’s public service and prevent governments from using public resources for party-political promotion.

The Auditor-General’s report, Government Advertising and Communications, released today, found government departments and agencies had failed to comply with legislative requirements to be apolitical.

The report found that taxpayer funded government departments and agencies that are meant to work in the public interest, had been used to promote the Labor party.

Some of these findings included the Department of Premier and Cabinet commissioning polling to rate the government’s performance and issuing hundreds of party-political press releases, the Suburban Rail Loop Authority and Department of Transport and Planning.

Despite these findings, the Department of Premier and Cabinet refused to accept a key recommendation from the Auditor-General to strengthen oversight of political content published on taxpayer-funded government websites.

The Greens are calling for stronger safeguards to prevent the politicisation of the public service and misuse of public resources including independent oversight of government advertising and communications and updated laws to cover the changing media landscape.

the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:

“Government departments and public servants are there to serve the Victorian people, not act as a taxpayer-funded PR machine for the Labor party.

“Labor blurring the line between governing and campaigning is just such a clear example of how Labor is more interested in clinging onto power than actually delivering for Victorians.

“Labor’s politicisation of the public service is so shameless they’re even doubling down and refusing to accept key recommendations to fix this problem.

“Victorians deserve a strong, independent public service they can trust to work in their interests and that means real consequences and oversight for Labor and the Liberals when they misuse public resources for political gain.”

“Taxaholic Treasurer Jim Chalmers has finally admitted his economic agenda is delivering slower growth and higher unemployment, but rather than undo the damage from his active inflation agenda he continues to stoke inflation through deficits and public spending pushing up interest rates and prices at the supermarket”, said Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson.

Mr Wilson’s comments come in the wake of the Treasurer flagging growth and unemployment downgrades ahead of MYEFO, and the Reserve Bank confirming in writing to a parliamentary committee that lower government spending would reduce inflationary pressures.

“Small businesses and families are living the consequences of our Taxaholic Treasurer’s active inflation agenda every day with higher taxes, 16 interest rate rises and higher prices at the supermarket”.

“The Reserve Bank has now put in writing what every household already knows. When the government spends less, inflation comes down and the pressure comes off interest rates”.

“Real government spending grew by 4.3 per cent last financial year, more than double what was forecast, yet the Treasurer still wants Australians to believe inflation is everyone’s fault but his”.

“Underlying inflation lifted above the RBA’s target in July 2025, and it still isn’t under control which means higher mortgage rates and supermarket prices and all because the Treasurer can’t kick his spending addiction”.

“A sugar hit of data centre investment isn’t going to solve our Taxaholic Treasurer running down small businesses, households and confidence”.

“The Reserve Bank and the International Monetary Fund have warned government spending is fuelling inflation so it might be time for the Treasurer to start listening”.

“Markets are now betting on another rate rise in November, and economists are putting a 50-50 chance on recession. Our Titanic Treasurer has been warned about the iceberg of taxes, spending and regulation, and his only response is to shout, “full steam ahead””.

“The Coalition has a plan to turn this around. We will put a speed limit on spending so government can’t spend faster than the economy is growing, crack down on the waste, fraud and abuse of public money that is stoking inflation, and deliver our Tax Back Guarantee so every Australian worker gets a bigger, permanent tax cut, every year”.

“Lower taxes and lower inflation give small businesses the confidence to invest, hire and grow, and give families the breathing room to get ahead again”.

“The Treasurer has a choice in MYEFO. He can rein in spending, or he can keep running the economy down the recession runway and leave households and small businesses to pay for a recession Australia doesn’t have to have”.