As the rights of women and girls are deliberately wound back, Australia’s first female prime minister has urged gender equality activists to push back with the same ferocity. 

Former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard is a key speaker at Women Deliver, a major gathering of activists, policymakers and leaders past and present. 

Ms Gillard was welcomed with cheers from almost 6000 delegates who have gathered for the conference in Melbourne. 

“The rolling back of women’s rights is not being done in secret, it’s being heralded by key global political leaders,” she said at the opening ceremony on Monday night.

“It’s not being disguised or done in tiny increments, it is overt, strategic and being attempted in bounding leaps.

“We must push back in the same way and find the courage to take bounding leaps as well (because) gender equality is not a luxury and (it) is not just an issue for women.”

Ms Gillard is chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and later founded its sister institute based at the Australian National University in Canberra.

She said research conducted by the institutes had shown more gender-equal communities offered everyone, including men, better economic prospects and a fuller range of life choices.

“We have not always been as loud as we should have been about making this case,” Ms Gillard said.

“So-called populist movements have exploited this and worked to create the impression that gender equality is a zero-sum game, where if women and girls get more then men and boys must get less.

“We need to make sure that we are continuing to make an inclusive case for gender equality.”

As only the second woman appointed to the position, Governor-General Sam Mostyn said the gendered language of opposition was alive and well.

“I hope I speak for all the women who step up into positions of leadership and authority … in saying the least interesting thing about us, actually, is our gender,” she said.

“In fact, the most important thing for a generation of young women and men across the globe is to know there should be no barriers whatsoever, gender or otherwise, to the very best people assuming leadership in our society.”

The five-day Women Deliver schedule includes notable speakers from the political sphere including former prime ministers such as New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. 

Attendees will also have the chance to hear from other global leaders and advocates for gender equality including eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and Olympic gold medallist Emma McKeon. 

Artificial intelligence has yet to negatively impact hiring of graduates, although some occupations are starting to show signs of softening, says Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth.

In a keynote address on Tuesday, Ms Rishworth will preview new government data showing the effects of AI on the jobs market as she announces a new forum bringing together employer groups and unions in a big to increase collaboration in the technology’s roll-out.

“Pleasingly, employment outcomes for young tertiary graduates have been positive, despite some expectations that they could be the ‘canaries in the coalmine’ for AI in the workplace,” she will tell the AFR Workforce Summit in Sydney.

“We are not seeing an elevated rate of compositional change, meaning that the mix of jobs in the economy is not changing faster than usual.

“However, we are starting to see a slight softening in the rate of growth for occupations that are most exposed to AI adoption, like filing clerks or keyboard operators.”

The government has been attempting to balance union concerns that unleashing AI on workplaces with no oversight would impact job security with employer warnings that over-regulating the technology would threaten a potential productivity boon.

Labor ministers, including Ms Rishworth, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Minister for Productivity Andrew Leigh, have touted the productivity-boosting potential of AI.

But Ms Rishworth will say it is crucial workers are brought along on the journey and that the benefits of AI are shared, which is why dialogue between government, unions and business is so important.

“One of the ways I am building this dialogue is through the newly elevated AI Employment and Workplaces Forum,” she will say, according to an excerpt of the speech.

The new forum, including the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and chief executives of employer groups such as the Business Council Australia and Australian Industry Group, will meet for the first time in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Top of the agenda: how to build trust around AI adoption.

That could mean employers ensuring employees are given input into how AI is used in their workplace, for instance.

Themes of capability, transparency, safety and productivity will also be discussed by the forum.

“These themes will shape our discussions on how we can build common understanding, and translate these themes into agreed outcomes,” Ms Rishworth will say.

At an economic roundtable in August 2025, Dr Chalmers announced the government would conduct a gap analysis to see whether existing legislation was adequate to regulate AI or whether it would require one overarching bill.

Aussie A-lister Rebel Wilson is set to star in a real-life courtroom drama when she testifies in her high-profile defamation battle against the star of her directorial debut. 

The Pitch Perfect star is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the Australian lead actor of the musical comedy The Deb.

MacInnes claims Wilson defamed her in four social media posts which claimed she made a sexual harassment complaint and then retracted it to further her career. 

The dispute was sparked when the young actor assisted The Deb’s co-producer Amanda Ghost after she suffered a medical episode at Bondi Beach in September 2023.

She helped the producer back to an apartment they were sharing with others and ended up innocently sharing a bath in their swimwear in a bid to warm up, MacInnes says. 

Wilson is set to go into the Federal Court witness box on Tuesday after flying from the US with her wife, who will also give evidence this week.

Hints about what she might say can be found in sworn statements by MacInnes that have been tendered to the court and contain parts of the older actor’s own affidavit.

Wilson is expected to testify about her claim MacInnes confided in her that Ms Ghost had asked her to have a bath and a shower together, and it made her feel uncomfortable. 

MacInnes denies making the complaint, maintaining she later clarified to Wilson the situation had been weird but she was not uncomfortable around Ms Ghost.

In her statement, Wilson says she overheard the producer and young star saying intimate things – often of a sexual nature – to each other, which MacInnes has denounced as untrue.

She also rejected Wilson’s account of seeing Ms Ghost push her to go out for a drink together until the young actor relented.

The Bridesmaids star falsely portrayed herself as a whistleblower who spoke up to protect MacInnes when she was actually using the alleged complaint as leverage in a dispute with her co-producers, MacInnes’ barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC said.

“I was angry that Rebel claims to be someone who stands up for women … but then was so maliciously and unfairly persisting with a narrative that painted me as a liar, prostitute, sell out, and whore,” MacInnes wrote in her affidavit.

Instead of checking on the alleged victim of inappropriate behaviour, Ms Chrysanthou said Wilson instead shared posts “slagging off” her client.

“This is how this bully, apparently this saviour of women, the protector of the harassed, responds,” she previously told the court.

But Wilson had raised her concerns with others even though she had doubts about the veracity of the alleged complaint, her lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC said in his opening address.

The central issue is not whether MacInnes was a victim but instead whether she complained to Wilson and then changed her story, he contended.

“Our case is that … she changed her story,” Mr Sibtain said.

“She did so to ensure her career as an actress and musician progressed by appeasing Ms Ghost.”

Mr Sibtain argued MacInnes hasn’t suffered any harm to her reputation at all as a result of the social media posts, contrary to her allegations. 

It is likely Wilson will face questioning about MacInnes’ claim she played a role in a hack on her social media account that led to a nude photo being leaked.

The Hollywood star is also expected to be grilled on whether she was involved in creating malicious websites attacking Ms Ghost that referenced the alleged complaint. 

Wilson has been accused of directing a crisis PR team to create the websites, but denies any involvement.

Australia’s fuel reserves would be more than doubled to 60 days under a coalition plan to strengthen the nation’s supply chains in the face of global crisis.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan will on Tuesday announce their bid to bolster fuel security.

The proposal includes setting up an $800 million facility to deliver at least one billion litres of new onshore storage, with a focus on diesel.

The plan could be adopted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “without delay” because Australia would cease to operate if it ran out of fuel, Mr Taylor said.

“More fuel in reserve, more storage on the ground, and a country that can stand on its own two feet,” he said.

“This is about protecting Australians’ way of life and restoring their standard of living.

“You don’t do that with talk. You do it with action.”

The Liberals and Nationals are calling on the federal government to lift baseline fuel stocks from January, which would mandate current levels as the new minimum.

This would increase minimum levels for critical fuels as a whole by almost a quarter.

Under the minimum stockholding obligation, importers are required to have a baseline level of domestic fuel stocks.

Petrol and jet fuel mandate 27 days of supply, while importers must have enough diesel to last 32 days.

Lifting of the minimum stockholding obligation to 60 days would raise the price of fuel at the bowser by about 1 cent per litre, according to coalition analysis.

But the move is “prudent insurance” to prevent severe economic damage during a future crisis, it argues.

The proposal means fuel suppliers would need to build additional storage and buy extra fuel, with financial support on offer to help manage the cost.

Senator Canavan said households and businesses needed confidence fuel will be there when they need it.

“This plan is just common sense. Keep more fuel here in Australia so we are not relying on overseas supply lines that can be cut overnight,” he said.

“We cannot keep hoping for the best. We need to be ready, and this plan gets us there.”

Under the International Energy Agency’s agreement, member countries which include Australia, are required to hold 90 days’ worth of emergency oil stocks.

As at mid-April, Australia had 49 days of fuel stocks, according to the agency.

The Albanese government has previously said complying with the 90-day requirement would cost $20 billion.

Nations are allowed to store stocks outside of their countries and can count reserves held abroad as part of the requirement.

Conflict in the Middle East is strangling global fuel supply as key shipping lanes close.

India and New Zealand have signed a free trade agreement to deepen economic ties and expand market access, as both countries navigate mounting global trade disruptions.

The deal comes as New Delhi moves to diversify export markets to offset the impact of steep tariffs imposed by the United States and instability in shipping and energy routes due to the Iran war. 

For New Zealand, the agreement is part of a broader push to reduce reliance on China, its largest trading partner.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi on Monday by India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and visiting New Zealand Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay.

Negotiated over nine months and agreed in December, the deal will cut or eliminate tariffs on 95 per cent of New Zealand’s exports to India, while making all Indian exports to New Zealand duty-free. 

Wellington has also committed to invest $US20 billion ($A28 billion) in India over the next 15 years.

McClay said the deal marked a “once in a generation” opportunity to deepen economic ties at a time of rising global trade tensions and uncertainty. 

India is New Zealand’s 12th-largest export market, with bilateral trade valued at $US2.15 billion in the year through June 2025, according to official data.

Goyal called the deal a “defining milestone” and said India and New Zealand had “chosen each other” at a time “when the world economy is being recast”. 

He said the agreement offers market access across sectors and creating frameworks for investment and regulatory co-operation.

Indian sectors expected to see expanded market access include textiles and apparel, engineering goods, leather and footwear, and marine products. New Zealand is likely to register increased exports in horticulture, timber, coal, wool and meat. 

India has excluded dairy and certain agricultural products from the deal to protect its farming sector.

Indian exporters have been under pressure from higher US tariffs since August 2025, particularly in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, auto components and metals, even as New Delhi continues negotiations with Washington on a separate bilateral agreement.

New Zealand’s trade deals are usually bipartisan. 

The agreement now requires ratification by parliament and is expected to pass after the opposition New Zealand Labour Party backed it, despite resistance from coalition partner and populist minor party New Zealand First.

The head of the CFMEU administration has resigned less than two years after he was appointed to clean up the embattled union.

Mark Irving KC revealed on Monday he would step down from his role as CFMEU administrator after more than a year spent laying the groundwork for its future.

Since his appointment in August 2024, the Melbourne barrister successfully established control of the union and drove its restructure, according to a statement from the administration.

As the administration entered a new phase, it needed a different approach, Mr Irving said.

“The union is changing its personnel, it is changing its culture, it is regaining its position in civil society,” he wrote in a letter to Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong.

“It is imperative that the administration have the right people in the right roles at this crucial time.

“The best person to lead the administration in this phase should be an experienced union professional who has a fundamental commitment to union values and who can drive the necessary culture change and other reforms.”

CFMEU NSW executive officer Michael Crosby is set to take over from Mr Irving as he steps back to a senior counsel role within the administration.

“Mr Crosby is committed to continuing to drive change and rebuild a strong and independent union,” the administration said in a statement.

The CFMEU’s construction and general division was placed into administration in late 2024 after it was accused of corruption and links to organised crime.

Former CFMEU official and bikie Joel Leavitt, one of four men charged over an alleged extortion plot, faced court in March.

Queensland has also launched an inquiry into the CFMEU, led by commissioner Stuart Wood KC.

Liberal leaders are chancing the wrath of traditional swing voters to restore their fleeing base after the party preferenced One Nation for federal and state by-elections.

The Liberals’ how-to-vote cards favour One Nation’s David Farley over community independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe for the Farrer by-election on May 9.

Former Victorian Liberal deputy director turned pollster Tony Barry said the party was in a fight for survival and compared its stewardship to driving a “car with no brakes”.

“There are no perfect solutions, only imperfect choices,” he told AAP.

“It’s clear that their strategy is to try and get to second in the national polls and if they can get over the top of One Nation then they can try to build a coalition of constituencies to try to be competitive with Labor again.”

Unable to beat Labor from third position, Mr Barry said the party had to treat their base like swing voters at risk of alienating the actual swing voting block.

“If they do get over the top of One Nation the risk is that the brand damage sustained in getting there means they can’t get their primary vote into a contestable position with Labor,” the Redbridge director said.

“It’s a very complicated path back to competitiveness.”

Former prime minister John Howard once famously said One Nation should be placed last on every Liberal Party how-to-vote card around Australia.

Mr Howard has since tempered his 2001 edict, declaring preferences with One Nation should be considered on a case-by-case and seat-by-seat basis.

Nonetheless, fellow former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull described the decision to preference One Nation third in Farrer as a “retrograde move”.

“That would have been inconceivable during my time as prime minister, or indeed Tony Abbott’s or John Howard’s,” he told a climate and energy panel on Monday.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor defended One Nation as the “least worst option” in Farrer, aside from Nationals pick Brad Robertson.

“We’ve got … a group of teals in this parliament that are trashing our energy system … and we simply cannot endorse that,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

Mr Taylor singled out Iran as a “bad country” while selling his immigration policy, forcing party deputy and prominent moderate Jane Hume to clarify the country would not be subject to a blanket ban.

He criticised the booing of the Indigenous acknowledgement of Country at Anzac Day services but argued Welcome to Country ceremonies, a different cultural practice, had become “devalued by overuse”.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy accused Mr Taylor of being a “pale imitation of One Nation”, while Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles warned Australians would judge the Liberals on their preference ordering.

The Victorian Liberals have adopted the same preference strategy for Saturday’s by-election in Nepean.

Liberal candidate Anthony Marsh has a fight on his hands to retain the state seat in a three-way contest with One Nation’s Darren Hercus and community independent candidate Tracee Hutchison.

The Victorian Liberals plan to preference One Nation ahead of Labor as a default position for the state election in November, the Nine newspapers reported.

Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, a member of the party’s state campaign strategy committee, categorically denied the preference strategy had been discussed.

“We’re seven months out and, in most cases, there aren’t candidates, there aren’t policies and for some parties there isn’t even a leader,” she said.

Ms Wilson previously ruled out forming an “alliance” with One Nation for the state election, with polling showing one-fifth of Victorian voters back Pauline Hanson’s populist party.

Harking back to a 1996 one-liner from Ms Hanson, Premier Jacinta Allan demanded a “please explain” from Ms Wilson and called for no more “weasel words”.

Australia’s share market has started the week lower after a planned second round of US-Iran peace talks fell apart and as closure of a key energy transport route continues to wreak havoc.

The S&P/ASX200 slipped 23 points lower by midday, down 0.26 per cent, to 8,763.5, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 15.1 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8,993.6.

The Persian Gulf conflict continued to simmer with the Strait of Hormuz – an arterial route for a a fifth of global oil and gas supplies – entering a ninth week of effective closure.

“The markets clearly remain hopeful that the ceasefire will hold if talks stagnate, hostilities will not renew, and a peace deal will eventually materialise,” Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

“However, that outcome is not without its risks and potential costs, with the Strait of Hormuz still closed and the global economy still drifting towards a supply cliff in energy markets.”

Beside the headline risk presented by geopolitics, market volatility could also be fueled this week by central bank decisions, US company earnings, and macroeconomic data and events, including local inflation figures for March.

Basic materials was one of only two sectors in the green on Monday, up 0.6 per cent as advances from mega miners Rio Tinto and Fortescue helped ballast a modest dip in BHP.

Gold miners were mixed but skewing positive, as the precious metal hovered just above $US4,700 ($A6,557) an ounce.

Battery minerals producers performed well, with PLS and Liontown each up more than three per cent after BMI upgraded its lithium price forecast on Friday.

Financials dropped 0.7 per cent, with Commonwealth Bank leading the big four lower with a 1.2 per cent decline to $172.46.

Energy stocks also fell despite oil prices inching higher since Friday, with the Brent benchmark trading near $US100 a barrel.

Woodside and Santos each shed roughly 1.3 per cent, while coal producers and uranium stocks also sold off.

Utilities were also under pressure, slumping as Origin tumbled 2.6 per cent to $12.44 after it sharply downgraded earnings guidance for UK energy provider Octopus Energy, in which it owns a stake of about 23 per cent.

Consumer staples ran into profit-taking after a strong week prior, down 0.9 per cent on Monday and tracking with similar dips in Coles and Woolworths.

Consumer cyclicals edged 0.1 per cent higher with help from Aristocrat Leisure and Eagers Automotive, as Wesfarmers and JB Hi-Fi lost ground.

Toll road operator Atlas Arteria outperformed the top-200 with a more than 14 per cent boost after receiving a takeover bid from IFM Investors.

The Australian dollar is buying 71.68 US cents, up from 71.23 US cents on Friday at 5pm.

Spy agencies are on alert as a group of Australian women and children linked to Islamic State plan to return home from Syria after years in a detention camp.

Four women and their nine children left Syria’s al-Roj camp on Friday, travelling to Damascus where they plan to board a flight back to Australia, according to multiple media reports.

A source close to the families told the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age they had secured plane tickets to Australia.

But this was disputed by a government source, not authorised to speak publicly, who told AAP none of the 13 women or children had been flagged as having booked a flight home.

The government was not involved in the group’s repatriation but spy agencies were following the case closely, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

“Obviously our intelligence agencies are on the job,” he told ABC Radio National on Monday.

“We’re not providing any assistance for these people to come back to Australia,” Mr Marles said.

Security agencies had been preparing for the group’s return, and anyone who had committed a crime would face the consequences when they re-renter Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

“People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law,” he said in a statement.

A group of around 30 women and children has been trying to return home to Australia from Syria for years, after travelling to the Middle East with men who wanted to fight for Islamic State before the caliphate was toppled in 2019.

Advocates claim some of the women were coerced into leaving Australia.

One of the women has been barred from entering the country because of fears she could pose a security risk, and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said more should be excluded.

“These are women… who were a party to some of the most horrendous crimes in the history of the world,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“If we’ve got a temporary exclusion on one, we should be doing everything to get a temporary exclusion on the lot,” Mr Joyce said.

A concerted, organised and strategic pushback by the “manosphere” against gender equality can’t be swept under the rug, Australia’s only female prime minister says.

But advocates also need to turn the spotlight on themselves and assess whether their language has played a role in making men feel excluded from the movement, Julia Gillard says.

The former Labor prime minister,  now primarily based in the United Kingdom, has returned to Australia as a keynote speaker at Women Deliver.

The gender-equality conference, which begins on Monday, is focused on improving all aspects of women’s, girls’ and gender-diverse people’s lives.

Melbourne is hosting the event, a significant moment as it is the first time the conference – established in 2007 and held every three years – has been in the Oceanic Pacific region.

Women Deliver is more than a talkfest, with Ms Gillard saying attendees were keenly focused on developing solutions to global challenges.

“People are coming together not just to chat, but to build new links, work through difficult issues, come up with new ideas and then take them away from the conference and implement them,” she told AAP.

The conference is being held against a backdrop of global push-back against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and concerns about the rise of the manosphere and its impact on young men.

“We have seen in many parts of the world a form of politics which weaves together nationalism, isolationism, patriotism and anti-women’s rights agendas,” Ms Gillard said.

“With all of this happening, it’s a particularly important time for people to come together and to discuss what we can do to win the popular debate globally because, at the end of the day, more gender-equal societies benefit everyone.”

Following her departure from parliament in 2013, Ms Gillard has focused much of her attention on improving gender equality, mental health support and education.

In 2018, she was appointed chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London and later founded its sister institute based at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The institute was among the first to spotlight and track the trend of young men’s attitudes towards gender equality going backwards.

That trend could be partially attributed to the equality movement not being as inclusive of men as it could have been, Ms Gillard said.

“To be self-critical … some of the language we’ve used around gender equality has given the impression that it’s solely about women … it hasn’t been inclusive enough to explain that it’s about a better future for all,” she said.

“But it’s not just as simple as we need to change our language and be more inclusive of men and boys.

“I think we’ve got to be pretty knowing that there is concerted, organised and strategic pushback.

“There is a form of politics that has fused with online influencers and the manosphere, who are peddling a particular version of masculinity … (about being) able to project dominance over women in their lives.”