Australia news live: Chalmers says migration needed for falling birth rate; City of Sydney bans smartglasses

Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over for Martin. It’s a gloomy morning here in Sydney. Let’s get to it.

Anthony Albanese has met with Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly, to talk free trade, China, critical mineral and AI.

The prime minister and president of the European Commission were joined by the president of the European Council, António Costa.

The trio discussed geopolitical issues, including ongoing support for Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and Iran, as well as relations with China and the Pacific.

They also agreed to continue deepening cooperation on economic security – including on critical and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

Cooperation between the EU and Australia when it comes to critical raw minerals was also on the agenda, ahead of the Team Europe business mission to Australia next month.

“They agreed to remain in close contact with a view to explore the potential for further strengthening and deepening of EU-Australia relations,” a statement read.

It comes after the EU invited Canada to become an associate member – though the council has no such category – with some speculating Australia could follow suit.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the Albanese government is committed to doing “everything we can” to address to domestic violence after a horrific weekend of violence in New South Wales.

Chalmers made the comments to ABC’s ۷.۳۰ program last night after a mother allegedly fatally stabbed a child and wounded two others in the Blue Mountains and, separately, three other women were allegedly murdered inside their homes across the state.

Chalmers noted expert views that a lack of accessible housing played a role in domestic violence, along with the “magnitude” of misognystic content online. He also said frontline staffing was crucial.

I work closely with the prime minister and [women’s minister] Katy Gallagher and the relevant ministers to make sure that police and others get the resourcing they need, working with state governments.

Chalmers says migration needed for falling birth rate

Catie McLeod

Jim Chalmers says migration is necessary to support Australia’s ageing population, and can help the nation as birthrates tumble.

The three-yearly intergenerational report found that the declining birthrate meant more Australians will be dying than being born in ۴۰ years’ time – the first time the report had made such a prediction.

Chalmers told ۷.۳۰ Australia’s birthrates were falling faster than anticipated just a few years ago, because people are taking the decision to have smaller families later in life.

He said, in this context, “any objective observer would conclude that we need responsible levels of migration” to support the ageing population:

Migration is a force for good in our economy and in our society.

We will continue to make the case for getting that net overseas migration down in the most responsible way, that balances all of the key considerations in our economy and in local communities.

His comments come after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, last week unveiled long-awaited changes to immigration rules, promising to bring down net overseas migration (Nom) to ۲۴۵,۰۰۰ this financial year, and ۲۲۵,۰۰۰ in ۲۰۲۷-۲۸.

City of Sydney council bans smartglasses in community facilities

Catie McLeod

The City of Sydney has banned smartglasses in all its pools, libraries, gyms, childcare centres and town halls.

The council agreed to update signage and guidance to prevent people wearing the glasses in community facilities, due to growing privacy and harassment concerns.

In a statement, Greens councillor Matthew Thompson said his motion included exemptions for those who use the glasses as accessibility devices, including those with vision and hearing loss.

He urged the federal government to do more to regulate the glasses and prevent their misuse, saying that:

Overseas we’re seeing women being targeted and harassed in public and recorded without their consent. We don’t want what’s happening in the US to happen here.

That’s why we’re banning smart glasses and other wearable recording devices from all of our pools, gyms, childcare [centres], libraries and other council spaces.

Cheap wearable devices like smart glasses are already flooding the market. But instead of stopping this problem, the federal Labor government has dumped it on to councils to sort out.

We need an import ban on these cheap, intrusive devices until we have stronger privacy protections and clear standards implemented nationally.

Last week, Sydney’s Canterbury-Bankstown council introduced its own restrictions on the technology. Its mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, decried what he called “pervert glasses” as the council barred the wearable tech from public pools.

In August, Brisbane city council became the first to ban the glasses from pools. Melbourne’s Yarra council has banned them from playgrounds, childcare centres and gyms.

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.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the Albanese government is committed to doing “everything we can” to address to domestic violence after a weekend of violence in New South Wales. More coming up.