$4.2B BILL FOR NDIS FRAUD; ADF’S AI PUSH

NDIS annual fraud estimated at $4.2 billion

Fraudulent activity is costing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) $4.2 billion a year, according to the scheme’s Federal Minister, Jenny McAllister. Senator McAllister said the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) had estimated that fraud and integrity leakage was about 8.3 per cent of the NDIS’ projected $50.7 billion cost in 2025-26. In a speech to the Business Council of Australia, Senator McAllister said legislation presently before Federal Parliament would empower the NDIA with greater monitoring, investigation and enforcement powers. High-risk providers would need to be registered, so that 90 per cent of funding would go to agency-approved providers. In addition, the legislation provided for a new payment system to ensure the legitimacy of claims and providers.

Marles updates Defence technology strategy

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has launched the 2026 Defence, Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy, to accelerate new technologies for Defence and strengthen Australia’s sovereign industrial base. The 2026 strategy focuses on six capability priorities: long-range fires and hypersonic weapons, high-energy lasers, autonomous systems, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, and undersea warfare. Mr Marles said the strategy would draw on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, and from conflict in the Middle East.

AI promise for training operations, says ADF chief

Meanwhile, the new Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Mark Hammond, says the ADF is embracing the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence a in command-and-control training. In a speech delivered to the Australian Defence Summit, Admiral Hammond said AI had the potential to increase the scale, frequency and accessibility of complex training activities, while reducing the ADF’s reliance on human role players. He said AI promised to significantly improve the ADF’s ability to command and control complex operations, as well as to enhance air battle management training. Admiral Hammond said Defence had to remain on the cutting edge of technological innovation in order to deliver asymmetric advantage to the ADF, to maximise its “deterrence and survivability dividends.”

Commodity exports lead trade turnaround

Australia’s trade balance has taken a sharp uptick, with a $4.3 billion turnaround in the value of international goods trade in June. Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a trade surplus of almost $2 billion in June, after sliding to a $2.3 billion deficit in May. Commodity export staples iron ore, coal and gas (liquefied natural gas) recorded monthly increases of between four and six per cent, while fuel imports such as crude oil, petroleum and gasoline fell by almost 12 per cent. Capital goods imports fell by 4.5 per cent in June, amid a $100 million fall in the value of goods imports.

Bowen puts energy cost onus on data centres

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has moved to hose down concerns over the level of data centre investment in Australia, and the implications of data centres for domestic energy usage. In a speech to the National Press Club, Mr Bowen admitted that data centres were “whales’ in their consumption of electricity, but additional data centre investment was conditional on providing additional renewable energy. Mr Bowen said data centres presently consumed around two per cent of electricity supply, forecast to rise to six per cent in 2030 and to 10 per cent in 2050. In context, he said, six per cent equated to the energy use of every home in Victoria. The Minister said changes to national energy rules would introduce a ‘causer pays’ principle for data centres, so if they caused the cost, they paid the cost. If data centres, or other large energy users, needed new or accelerated transmission, they would be required to foot the bill.

King confirms WA, NT role in national gas reservation plan

Resources Minister Madeleine King has confirmed that both Western Australia and the Northern Territory will be subject to the proposed domestic gas reservation scheme. In an NT media interview, Ms King said it was important that the whole country was part of the gas reservation scheme. She acknowledged, however, that WA already had an existing reservation scheme, and that pipelines in the NT were not yet in place by which to send gas to the east coast. But Ms King said that since the reservation scheme was announced, there had been increased interest in investment in pipelines to the south and east of Australia. The Federal Government announced in May that it would introduce a domestic gas reservation scheme, which would require gas exporters to supply a proportion of their total production to the Australian market, or equivalent to 20 per cent of exports, from July 2027.