A judge rules Coles misled customers in its 'Down Down' pricing campaign; Independent Tasmanian Senator Tammy Tyrell defects to Labor; and in football, Iran's football team is sent off by supporters, ahead of a controversial World Cup campaign.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- A judge rules Coles misled customers in its 'Down Down' pricing campaign
- Independent Tasmanian Senator Tammy Tyrell defects to Labor
- Iran's football team is sent off by supporters, ahead of a controversial World Cup campaign
Coles has been found to have misled shoppers through its “Down Down” price campaign, in a major Federal Court ruling.
Justice Michael O’Bryan found 13 of the 14 sample promotions examined in the ACCC case were misleading and not genuine discounts.
The consumer watchdog alleged Coles temporarily increased prices on products before reducing them to a level still higher than the original price, before advertising the change as a special.
The judge ruled the promotions were likely to mislead ordinary consumers.
Penalties will be decided at a later date, with Coles potentially facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
A similar ACCC case against Woolworths is still awaiting judgement.
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Independent Senator for Tasmania Tammy Tyrell has joined the Labor party after previously being a member of the Jacqui Lambie party.
The former Lambie staffer turned Senator says she will not apologise for defecting to Labor, responding to criticisms that she is betraying those who did not want to vote for a major party.
Senator Tyrell says she has supported Labor on and off for years and believes the decision will give her a better chance to make change for Tasmania.
"I know that Tasmanians understand that change is important, and there are people who are not going to like what I've done, but the people who elected me are always going to get value for money, respect, and the best out of me and the government."
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The Greens are calling for amendments to political donation laws, arguing that they allow big corporations to influence major policy and budget decisions.
The amendment proposes a ban on donations from certain industries, including; property developers, the tobacco industry, the mining industry, and gambling businesses.
In the Senate, Greens Senator Nick McKim says such donations are a legal form of political bribery.
"This is how the big corporations get the outcomes that they got in this week's budget, by their donations to the Labor party and in previous governments, to the Liberal and National parties. This is how the one per cent insidiously control our democracy."
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Opposition leader Angus Taylor will use his first budget reply speech to link Australia's migrant intake to the number of new homes built.
The speech will outline a plan to crackdown on migration and limit net overseas migration to the number of homes built the previous year.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says linking housing to migration is an offensive "dog whistle".
With plans to block non-citizens from a range of welfare programs, Angus Taylor told Seven's Sunrise that this is about fairness.
"If people commit to our country, we will absolutely commit to them. But what we're seeing in this budget, and more generally, is the Labor party slashing programs to hard working Aussies. We've got older Australians who are going to lose access to the support they've had for private health insurance, and meanwhile, Labor is providing programs like these to non Australians and we think that is the wrong priority."
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The United Arab Emirates has denied Israeli claims Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the country during the war with Iran.
Mr Netanyahu’s office says he met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and that the meeting led to an historic breakthrough in relations.
But the Emirati foreign ministry says any claims of unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are unfounded unless officially confirmed by the UAE.
Reuters is reporting a source familiar with the matter says the two leaders met in Al-Ain on March 26, and that Mossad’s chief also visited the UAE during the conflict.
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Singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem has given an insight into how she is preparing for her performance at the Eurovision Song Contest tomorrow morning.
The award-winning artist is representing Australia at the contest with her song, Eclipse - a big moment that is expected to draw millions of viewers worldwide.
Eleven years on since Australia officially joined Eurovision, there are high hopes for Delta's performance - and she spoke with SBS News about what it means to represent her country.
"I could never have imagined stepping into Eurovision world about how much happens with each country's campaign to each other. There is this incredible discovery with the songs and getting to know the songs and the artist behind it."
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To sport now and in football; Supporters of the Iranian national soccer team have gathered to send-off players ahead of the World Cup, with chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".
The team is scheduled to head to Turkiye next week for a training camp before flying to the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Iran's participation in the tournament had been in doubt, after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran and the Trump administration imposed a travel ban on its citizens.
FIFA World Cup matches will be held across the US, Canada and Mexico.
Iran is currently ranked number 21 in the world, having lost just one match in the Asian qualifiers.
