Police are working to determine whether a fourth person died after being left unable to contact triple zero due to an Optus outage.

The deaths of two adults and an infant after efforts to dial through to the emergency number failed during Thursday’s 10-hour outage have already been confirmed. 

An eight-week-old baby and 68-year-old woman died in Adelaide, while the third fatality linked to the incident, which involved up to 600 attempted triple-zero calls, was that of a 74-year-old from Perth.

WA Premier Roger Cook says police are also investigating the circumstances surrounding a fourth fatality.

“Optus must be held accountable for this incredibly tragic event and they must provide answers,” he told reporters on Saturday.

A customer alerted Optus to the outage after the telco failed to detect a system failure that blocked the triple-zero calls.

Chief executive Stephen Rue admitted the outage was caused by a botched firewall upgrade.

He said emergency call access was restored about 1.50 pm on Thursday. 

Optus was also notified shortly after by South Australian Police.

“There was a technical failure in the system and further there were no alarms to alert us that some emergency calls were not making it through to emergency services,” Mr Rue told reporters in Sydney.

Welfare checks were conducted into Thursday evening and Friday, with delays in the timing “due to the complexity of pulling records from the network”, he said. 

The deaths were not confirmed until Friday, he said while repeatedly defending the decision not to alert the public until a snap press conference that evening as Optus ascertained the facts.

“We take full accountability for the technical failure and that we were unaware of this for … an unacceptable gap in time,” he said.

Early reviews suggested two complaints referred by the telecommunications industry ombudsman from two people who contacted Optus on Thursday morning weren’t handled “as would be expected”, Mr Rue said.

“This information was not surfaced with the relevant escalation at that time.”

He confirmed an independent investigation would be launched.

Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said she found it “particularly disappointing” the problems should have been addressed following recommendations from a review into a similar outage.

More than 10 million Optus customers and businesses were disconnected for more than 16 hours in November 2023.

People could not call triple zero on landlines, although it was still possible to do so on a mobile and the telco was fined more than $12 million for breaching emergency call rules during the nationwide outage.

“I find it hard to put into words how this could have possibly been allowed to happen again,” Ms Wells told reporters in Brisbane.

The outage would be thoroughly investigated, she said.

SA police worked through Friday night conducting welfare checks on 150 people whose triple-zero calls failed, Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Saturday.

Optus had a duty to inform authorities as quickly as possible “and the fact that didn’t occur until after a press conference on Friday beggars belief”, he said.

“They’ve got to make sure they’re letting our emergency services know … all the information the moment they have it, before they think about crafting a media statement.”

The premier was also scathing of Optus for only sharing the suburbs where the deaths had occurred with police, and said it took a call for him to the CEO to rectify this.

It was “somewhat extraordinary” police struggled to get information from Optus in light of what had happened, Mr Malinauskas said.

“The lack of information flow from Optus to the South Australian government’s appropriate authorities is somewhat bewildering and it raises a lot of questions.”

It was not yet known if the failed triple-zero calls had a direct impact on the emergencies in which people had died.

Mr Rue said he would speak with the families when appropriate.

Australia will recognise Palestine on the world stage as Anthony Albanese embarks on an agenda-setting international trip during which he may or may not meet Donald Trump.

The prime minister is visiting the United States, the United Kingdom and the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, where a lucrative free trade agreement comes into force.

He will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York for the first time as prime minister.

Mr Albanese is expected to follow the UK and countries such as France by outlining Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood.

“Australia played a pivotal role in the founding of the United Nations – because we have always understood how important it is for middle powers as well as smaller nations to have their voices heard in the big challenges facing our world,” he said on Saturday.

“Our sovereignty and prosperity are strengthened through global institutions and rules.”

Mr Albanese would also hold “bilateral meetings” with major international partners, his office said in a statement on Saturday, raising the prospect of a highly anticipated tete-a-tete with the US president.

It comes after Mr Trump lashed out at veteran ABC journalist John Lyons and accused him of “hurting Australia very much” for asking critical questions about the president’s business dealings.

“Your leader is coming over to see me very soon,” Mr Trump shouted at Mr Lyons in a fiery exchange on Wednesday.

“I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone.”

Mr Albanese is hoping to position Australia as a minerals hub to break China’s supply chain dominance.

An Australian delegation made up of more than 20 critical minerals companies recently met with Trump administration officials ahead of Mr Albanese’s visit.

The prime minister will travel to London for his second stop, where he will meet with British counterpart Keir Starmer, who hosted Mr Trump as part of a lavish state visit.

The UK is Australia’s second-largest source of foreign investment and second-largest destination for outgoing investment, Mr Albanese’s office noted, and a crucial defence partner along with the US.

King Charles praised the AUKUS pact as “vital” during Mr Trump’s visit.

The nuclear submarine partnership would deliver Australia at least eight submarines in the next three decades at an eye-watering cost of $380 billion.

Mr Albanese’s final destination will be the UAE, which has emerged as a powerful military and economic force in the Middle East.

He is due to meet with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a crucial free trade agreement inked in 2023 comes into effect.

Emirati tariffs will be cut on 99 per cent of Australian products entering the country – an estimated saving of $135 million in the first year and $160 million annually once the pact is fully phased in.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have made progress on a TikTok agreement, the US leader says, and will meet face-to-face in six weeks in South Korea to discuss trade, illicit drugs and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The two sides appeared to lower tensions during the first call in three months between the leaders of the two superpowers, but it was not immediately clear that the call had yielded the firm agreement that had been expected over the fate of the popular short-video app.

The leaders on Friday did agree to further talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum that starts on October 31 in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Trump also said he would visit China in early 2026 and that Xi would go to the US at a later date.

“He approved the TikTok deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding there could remain a formal signing of the agreement.

“The TikTok deal is well on its way.”

Trump also suggested positive movement on trade, fentanyl and the Russia-Ukraine war during the call, which lasted about two hours.

“I believe he would like to see it ended,” Trump said of Xi’s view of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Beijing’s final approval of a framework deal reached earlier this week is one of the hurdles Trump needed to clear to keep TikTok open.

Congress had ordered the app shut down for US users by January 2025 if its US assets were not sold by Chinese owner ByteDance.

China’s statement made no reference to a formal agreement on TikTok.

Trump had signalled multiple times that a deal might be forthcoming.

“China’s position on the TikTok issue is clear: the Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question,” the government said in a statement that called for non-discriminatory treatment of its companies.

“The US will work with China on the economy and trade, and support their teams in reaching a proper deal on TikTok through consultation.”

Trump has declined to enforce the TikTok law while his administration looks for a new owner, but also because he worries a ban on the app would anger TikTok’s huge user base and disrupt political communications.

Key questions about the deal remain, including the precise ownership structure of the company, how much control China will retain over the app’s inner workings, what concessions Trump will demand from the parties involved or whether Congress will approve.

“It’s all being worked out,” Trump said, responding to a question over whether the United States or China would have control over the app’s algorithm.

“We’re going to have very tight control.”

Trump also floated the possibility that the US government might take a fee for helping broker a deal to keep TikTok online.

The deal would transfer TikTok’s US assets to US owners from ByteDance.

Sources familiar with the deal said US TikTok would still make use of ByteDance’s algorithm.

That arrangement worries lawmakers who think Beijing could spy on Americans or conduct influence operations through the app.

China has said there is no evidence of a threat posed by the app.

Since retaking office in January, Trump has sharply hiked tariffs and singled out China’s export-oriented economy with especially punitive rates, prompting China to respond in kind.

A succession of limited agreements since May paused the tit-for-tat tariff war between the countries.

Other key issues include US demands that China crack down on the export of fentanyl-related chemicals, a cause of US overdose deaths.

Beijing has accused Washington of distorting the issue.

Optus has been savaged for “reprehensible conduct” after the death of an eight-week old baby during a botched network upgrade that prevented people making triple-zero calls.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas blasted the telco after it admitted up to 600 households in his state, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were impacted by the triple-zero outage on Thursday.

SA police said an eight-week-old boy from the town of Gawler and a 68-year-old woman from the Queenstown suburb of Adelaide died.

Mr Malinauskas lashed Optus for leaving his government in the dark about the deaths before holding its own press conference where it announced them.

“I have not witnessed such incompetence from an Australian corporation with respect to communication worse than this,” he told reporters late on Friday.

“Quite frankly that is reprehensible conduct.”

 He vowed an investigation would be launched to examine the “failure”.

“South Australians expect and deserve to know that when they call 000, help will be there,” the premier said.

Three customers, two in South Australia and one in Western Australia, died after they were unable to call emergency services, Optus chief executive Stephen Rue confirmed.

Federal communications minister Anika Wells said the incident was “incredibly serious and completely unacceptable”.

“The impact of this failure has had tragic consequences and my personal thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one,” she said in a statement.

All telecommunications providers are obligated to ensure they carry emergency service calls and this outage will be thoroughly investigated, she added.

Optus was continuing its “welfare checks” to ascertain any further customer impact, Mr Rue said.

The network technical problem has since been resolved and an internal investigation has been launched.

“I offer my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the people who passed away,” Mr Rue told reporters on Friday evening.

“I am so sorry for your loss.” 

He said the duration of the outage was not yet known and further details would be made public once the investigation was completed.

“What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have let you down,” Mr Rue said.

WA police said they were conducting welfare checks.

The federal opposition’s communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh expressed deep concern the triple-zero camp-on arrangements that divert calls to other carriers had also failed.

The incident comes almost two years after more than 10 million customers and businesses on Australia’s second largest telecommunications network were left disconnected for more than 16 hours in November 2023.

People weren’t able to call triple-zero on landlines, although it was still possible to do so on a mobile.

The telco was fined more than $12 million for breaching emergency call rules during the nationwide outage.

Optus failed to provide emergency call access to 2145 people and subsequently did not conduct welfare checks on 369 people who tried to call triple-zero, the communications watchdog found.

Mr Rue took over as the company’s chief executive in 2024 from Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who resigned over the 2023 outage.

Home buyers are still willing to pay top dollar for waterfront views and bush frontage but a landmark report suggests it won’t always be the case.

Riverine flooding, coastal inundation, bushfires, wind storms and droughts that can crack walls will eventually catch up with property markets, according to Australia’s first-ever national assessment of climate risks.

Under a worst-case scenario, extreme weather events are estimated to hit values by $570 billion by the end of the decade.

Losses could climb to more than $610 billion by 2050 under 3C of warming – a temperature rise the Australian Climate Service views as “prudent” to prepare for – as buyers opt to pay less for risky dwellings, banks value them accordingly and insurance costs trend higher.

The numbers assume little is done to adapt to changing conditions, with estimates far from set in stone. 

Senior researcher at Western Sydney University’s Urban Transformations Research Centre, Ehsan Noroozinejad, says known and recent events, such as flood risk, were already priced into property markets “to some extent”.

“But future risks, like sea-level rise or low-salience hazards are only partially or not at all capitalised into prices,” he tells AAP.

A compelling explanation for the resilience of many climate-vulnerable homes is that they often come with attractive lifestyle perks.

Waterfront views, for example, always command a price premium.

“Memory fade” after disastrous events, poor knowledge of climate risks and few houses to choose from can also keep upwards pressure on home prices in areas vulnerable to weather extremes.

Even in Lismore, the NSW town at the centre of the costliest disaster in Australian history, property prices have proven resilient. 

They dipped immediately after the devastating 2022 floods, and while still 6.7 per cent off record highs have since been trending higher based on figures provided by Cotality.

Sales activity is now back to long-run averages after a spike following the disastrous weather event.

While government buybacks have likely helped keep heat in the local market, Cotality views Lismore as a place where people will continue to buy after a natural disaster.

This, the researchers say, is likely in part because of the affordability challenges posed by relocating.

Committee for Economic Development of Australia senior economist Liam Dillon says chronic housing shortages are a major driver of home values, including in many climate-exposed locations in the regions and on the coast.

In line with Monday’s sobering risk assessment, Mr Dillon expects climate risk to become a bigger price-driver going forward, particularly when sea level rise begins leaving vastly more homes exposed.

“There’s two forces acting there – one is the intensity of what’s playing out in terms of those disasters and then the other one is the number of houses or properties exposed,” the economist explains.

Insurance costs are the biggest pain point.

Rising premiums are already influencing home values in a few highly vulnerable locations and insurance affordability and accessibility problems are only expected to worsen.

The climate report estimates 8.2 per cent homes, or 751,000, are in high-risk areas, while 8.7 per cent are in very high-risk areas.

By 2090, more than 1.2 million homes could be deemed at very high risk.

Rising insurance premiums could erode property values by as much as 10 per cent in some instances, Dr Noroozinejad says.

Affordable suburbs will likely feel the squeeze of rising insurance costs first, says Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee.

The premium end of markets are typically better able to absorb the costs of surging insurance, she explains.

Adelaide Hills is a good example, with higher-income buyers still flocking to the region for its natural beauty and proximity to the city despite its high exposure to bushfire risk.

After a disaster, wealthier households are also more likely to be able to afford a resilient rebuild, such as an elevated dwelling that avoids flood waters.

A gap between perceived and actual risk is another problem.

Mr Dillon says the economic think tank’s research suggests Australians may be underestimating the risks they face from natural disasters.

Less than one per cent of homeowners believe they are at high risk of flood, for example, compared to about 4.4 per cent of homes with at least a one-to-five per cent annual probability of inundation. 

The think tank believes a lack of easily accessible, digestible information is a big part of the problem that could be easily addressed by governments.

There is also an argument for strengthening mandatory or natural hazard disclosures at the point of sale, Mr Dillon says

It’s a view shared by the Productivity Commission, which has called for a resilience rating to stop buyers overpaying for climate-vulnerable homes and to incentivise sellers to invest in resilient home upgrades.

US President Donald Trump says he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have made progress on a TikTok agreement and pledged to meet face-to-face in just over a month in South Korea.

The two sides appeared to lower tensions during the first call in three months between the leaders of the two superpowers but it was not immediately clear if the call had yielded the expected firm agreement over the fate of the popular short-video app.

Trump did say the leaders agreed to talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that starts on October 31 in Gyeongju, South Korea, and for a potential later visit to China by Trump.

“We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump wrote on social media.

“The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!” Trump wrote.

But China’s statement made no reference to a final agreement.

“On TikTok, Xi said China’s position is clear: the Chinese government respects the will of firms and welcomes companies to conduct business negotiations on the basis of market rules to reach a solution consistent with Chinese laws and regulations while balancing interests,” according to the meeting summary in Xinhua.

A series of coal mine closures and job lay-offs and claims of an “un-Australian” royalty scheme might not be the last, a mining expert says.

Anglo American, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance and QCoal have shuttered mines and axed more than 1000 workers in Queensland in recent days.

And there could be more, mining analyst Gavin Wendt told AAP.

“We’ve had three miners in consecutive days come out and make the same decision, and all of these companies were complaining about the hike in royalties,” he said.

“There’s a consistency there, so the government needs to take a good, hard look at itself.”

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance this week blamed its 750 job cuts on the government’s “unsustainable” royalties regime and market conditions, claiming the state coal industry was reaching “crisis point”.

The alliance was branded “un-Australian” by the Queensland government after announcing the lay-offs, with a union accusing the mining giant of spreading fear.

Mr Wendt said it was an unfair remark by the government and the company was not at fault.

“It’s really un-Australian to double the royalty on a mining company so that their operations are effectively unsustainable,” he said.

“The finger of blame really should be pointed at the Queensland government, because their actions are un-Australian.”

BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s Adam Lancey said his company paid about eight times more in royalties than it made in profit this week under the regime.

The former Labor government introduced a tiered royalties system in 2022.

Under its progressive structure, higher revenues are generated during boom periods of high coal prices but less is taken when market conditions deteriorate.

Queensland’s LNP government has ruled out changing the royalties scheme, keeping a 2024 state election promise.

It insists it is “not at war” with mining companies, saying it is delivering new investment, cutting red tape and creating long-term job opportunities across regional Queensland.

Lobby group Queensland Resources Council offered to work with the government to reform a “defective coal royalty regime” after the latest lay-offs announced by QCoal.

QCoal confirmed its lay-offs on Friday, announcing one of Cook Colliery mine’s two underground sites in central Queensland would shut down in the coming weeks.

“Job losses are a difficult decision for any business and it’s regrettable that companies are being forced into this position,” the council’s chief executive Janette Hewson said.

“This once again demonstrates that the world’s highest royalty rates, coupled with low prices and soaring production costs, have impacted the viability of Queensland operations.”

Ms Hewson said some companies were paying billions of dollars in royalties to the Queensland government despite making no profit or barely breaking even. 

Premier David Crisafulli is set to hold a meeting with the resources sector next week.

But it is believed to have been organised weeks ago and not in response to royalties scheme criticism or lay-offs.

Seven teenagers are sitting in prison awaiting their next court appearance after being charged with murdering two boys walking home from basketball.

As 12-year-old Chol Achiek and his 15-year-old friend Dau Akueng were walking home at Cobblebank, they were allegedly ambushed by a group of masked males armed with machetes and other bladed weapons.

One boy was seen on CCTV being chased and attacked on the ground by three accused as he screamed for a woman to help in the September 6 incident in Melbourne’s outer northwest.

After a series of early morning raids across seven suburbs in Melbourne’s north and west on Friday, police arrested and charged seven teenagers with the slayings.

A Thornhill man, 19, a Sunbury boy, 16, a Hillside boy, 15, and a Sydenham boy, 16, were charged with Dau’s murder.

A Caroline Springs man, 19, a Wollert man, 18, and a 16-year-old Sydenham boy were accused of being responsible for Chol’s killing.

Prince Conteh, 19, Peter Addo, 18, and Abel Sorzor, 19 all faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday where they were remanded in custody until their next appearance on December 12.

The four underage accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at a children’s court where they also remanded in custody to appear before the court on February 16.

For some of the accused, it was their first time in custody, the court was told, while several held safety concerns regarding a unit within youth detention.

The magistrate described the murder investigation as complex, noting police had a lot of information to gather, including statements and videos.

Dau grew up in the flats around Fitzroy and Collingwood, playing and refereeing for the Collingwood Basketball Association before joining the Wolfpack Basketball Club when his family moved to the city’s outer west.

Chol’s father, Chuti Ngong, told mourners at a vigil that his son, a member of the Nile Warriors Basketball Club, was a peaceful boy who was loved by everybody.

The impact of the boys’ deaths has been felt across the Victorian community, as police increased patrols in the area.

Police have labelled Chol and Dau’s killings as “senseless” in that two children, who should have had decades of their lives ahead of them, are now gone.

“Instead, their devastated families are grieving their loss and all the things they will never get to see two children grow up to achieve and experience,” Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien said.

The Victorian government has reconvened a South Sudanese Australian youth justice expert working group in response to the deaths.

Targets to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will require difficult trade-offs on the location of large renewable projects, experts warn.

Unveiling the long-awaited climate targets this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged emissions would be cut by at least 62 per cent and up to 70 per cent by 2035.

He described the commitment as responsible and “backed by a practical plan to get there”.

Environmental law expert Justine Bell-James said the transition to clean energy outlined by the government will require difficult decisions.

Solar, wind and hydro developments will always have an impact on local ecosystems, she warns, but unchecked global warming would have a much worse effect.

“It’s a really complex puzzle,” Professor Bell-James told AAP.

“You need to kind of zoom out and look at the big picture to make these sort of decisions.”

Prof Bell-James said the government’s plan to curb emissions was not enough to avoid catastrophic effects on Australia’s Pacific neighbours because it doesn’t slash carbon pollution rates fast enough, and doesn’t account for fossil fuel exports.

“We’re continuing to approve massive fossil fuel projects for exporting emissions overseas,” she said.

“It can be difficult to square these really high statements of ambition domestically with this continued export of fossil fuels.”

The climate targets roadmap also included a $5 billion carve-out from an existing fund for decarbonising heavy industry.

While pressure is being placed on large-emitting industries to step up efforts to reduce their carbon output, some sectors’ efforts to reach net zero would be difficult.

National Farmers’ Federation interim chief executive Su McCluskey said agriculture, a sizeable emitter of methane gas particularly, would not hit net zero in isolation.

“It’s encouraging to see our nation collectively striving for solutions with this 62-70 per cent range target,” she said.

“While the NFF supports an economy-wide aspiration of net zero by 2050, it cannot be net zero for agriculture.

“If we don’t get climate policy right, farming will only get harder.”

Agriculture contributes up to 20 per cent of Australian greenhouse gases, though Ms McCluskey said food and fibre security was also important to consider.

“Productive farmland should not be sacrificed to offset emissions from other industries,” she said.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean told the ABC on Friday that “the key thing out of the Paris Agreement is to make our best ambition in light of our national circumstances”.

“That’s why we did a bottom-up approach to show what is possible, asking every sector of the economy to do its bit based on the technologies available to us today,” he said.

“This is a conservative approach which means Australia should be able to deliver on what we promised.”

The 2035 targets were based on the independent authority’s final advice.

Optus could face multi-million dollar fines and legal penalties after a botched network upgrade prevented people from making triple-zero calls and resulted in three deaths, including of an eight-week-old boy.

The telco has admitted up to 600 households in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were impacted by the triple-zero outage on Thursday.

SA police said an eight-week-old boy from the town of Gawler and a 68-year-old woman from the Queenstown suburb of Adelaide died.

At least three customers, two in South Australia and one in Western Australia, died after they were unable to call emergency services, Optus chief executive Stephen Rue confirmed.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the incident was “incredibly serious and completely unacceptable”.

“The impact of this failure has had tragic consequences and my personal thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one,” she said in a statement.

All telecommunications providers are obligated to ensure they carry emergency service calls and this outage will be thoroughly investigated, she added.

Optus is continuing its “welfare checks” to ascertain any further customer impact, Mr Rue said.

The network technical problem has since been resolved and an internal investigation has been launched.

“I offer my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the people who passed away,” Mr Rue said at a press conference on Friday night.

“I am so sorry for your loss.”

He said the duration of the outage was not yet known and further details would be made public when the investigation was completed.

“What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have let you down,” Mr Rue said.

WA Police said it was conducting welfare checks.

Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh expressed deep concern the triple-zero camp-on arrangements that diverted calls to other carriers had also failed.

The incident comes almost two years after more than 10 million customers and businesses on Australia’s second largest telecommunications network were left disconnected for more than 16 hours in November 2023.

People weren’t able to call triple-zero on landline devices, although it was still possible to do so on a mobile phone.

The telco was fined more than $12 million in penalties for breaching emergency call rules during the nationwide outage.

Optus failed to provide emergency call access to 2145 people and subsequently did not conduct welfare checks on 369 people who tried to call triple-zero, the communications watchdog found.

Mr Rue took over as the company’s chief executive in 2024 from Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who resigned over the 2023 outage.