Hang on, help is on its way.

That was the message from organisers of the rain-soaked 2026 Mundi Mundi Bash as an army of volunteers rose early on Sunday to help 10,000 campers begin exiting the festival grounds at Belmont Station, northwest of Broken Hill.

Bash founder and manager Greg Donovan said the rollout would begin with vehicles able to safely and independently leave the site before his team began helping those stuck in the mud.

Anyone unsure whether they could leave their campsite without assistance was advised to sit tight to keep roads clear for moving traffic.

“We know it will be a slow and challenging roll-out,” Donovan told AAP.

“Our priority during the morning is to keep traffic flowing.

“Once roads are clear of departing traffic, recovery teams will begin assisting campers whose vehicles cannot independently leave their campsites.”

He said the SES had briefed crews on best-practice vehicle recovery, with the operation to pause after dark and resume Monday morning.

Donovan said campers were welcome to stay put until Monday to give the site more time to dry out and recovery teams would remain to help if needed.

The festival was poised to welcome 15,298 people and 652 dogs in 6950 vehicles before wet conditions arrived.

The damp forced organisers to reduce its footprint – and the number of campers it could accommodate – by almost a third on Thursday.

The figure comprised 14,076 adults, including 152 crew and 695 volunteers, 1101 five to 17-year-olds and 121 children younger than five.

Performers, staff and ticketholders at this year’s event were set to clock up more than 38 million kilometres travelling to and from Mundiville from throughout Australia, according to postcode data.

Volunteer Wayne Paterson tows his caravan from Adelaide each year and said while heavy rain had made conditions challenging, unpredictable weather was always a given for anyone visiting remote Australia.

He said everyone had mucked in across the weekend to help one another.

The convoy leaving Mundiville has become a must-see tradition as they weave back through the streets of Broken Hill to make the most of extra waste services and dump sites provided by council and restock before motoring home.

Bash regulars and Mad Max fans Jenni and Phil Denniss, who came from Dungog, near Newcastle with their caravan and puppy in tow, said adapting to the conditions was part and parcel of the Mundi experience.

“We take days to come … the drive is about 10 to 12 hours but we break it up, staying at a few places on the way,” Ms Denniss said.

The couple were among the festivalgoers who spent their first night camped out along the outer road in the wet before they were able to move to their campsite the next day.

“We were cold, we were wet – everyone just went to bed. It was windy,” Ms Denniss said. 

“We didn’t know what was going to happen but we knew that Greg (Donovan, the event promoter) would work it out because he’s a good problem solver.”

Ms Denniss said she wasn’t worried about how long it could take to bump out.

“If we get stuck here, we get stuck here,” she said.

“I feel sorry for the people who couldn’t get in but you can’t control the weather. It is what it is.” 

* AAP travelled to the Mundi Mundi Bash with the assistance of event organisers.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that starting September 8 Canada will impose  tariffs on imports from the ‌United States across a raft of sectors in retaliation for President ‌Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs that took effect at midnight.

After days of intense negotiations, the two countries did not reach a trade deal late on Friday, worsening a delicate relationship between the long-term trade partners and allies and complicating the future of the continental free trade pact called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Trump’s new tariffs hit a slew of sectors including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment and cover about $US20 billion ($A28 billion) of Canadian exports to the US. 

These duties do ‌not exempt Canadian ‌products under the USMCA, which ⁠has shielded most Canadian exports to the United States in the last 18 months.

“Canada will match Washington’s new ​tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses,” Carney said at a news conference.

Canada’s tariffs will hit US sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics along with some sectors the US previously targeted in Canada, Carney said from Ottawa’s parliament building. 

The Canadian government will release details over the next several days, Carney said.

“We cannot accept what they have offered, and we will not give what they have asked,” Carney said.

Trump ⁠had expressed hope that a deal with Canada could happen on Friday.

But Carney ‌said the US ​administration’s last-minute demands halted progress.

“In recent days, the US proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermined the net benefits to Canada, calling into question ​the reliability of ‌any deal,” he said, adding these demands included curtailing Canada’s ability to forge new trade deals.

Carney said Canada would announce support measures next week for industries ​that are hit by the new US duties, alongside new tariffs on the US.

The new US tariffs cover about five per cent of Canada’s exports to the US.

They could expose some vulnerable industries such as softwood lumber and wine to severe damage and lead to ​job ​losses and business closures, trade experts have said.

“We will be mobilising ​our network of businesses in all regions and all sectors to brace for ‌impact and make the best of a bad situation,” Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, one of the most vocal opponents of US tariffs, supported Carney’s decision to retaliate.

“I’m glad he didn’t sign that deal because it was a bad deal. It was a bad deal for Ontario. It was a bad deal for the auto sector, the steel sector and manufacturing sector,” Ford told reporters on Saturday.

US Trade Representative Jamieson ​Greer told Fox News on Saturday that no new talks are planned with Canada.

“We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation,” Greer ​said.

“They’ve always had the best deal, and they ⁠still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that.”

Canadian negotiators had had a third straight day of talks with their US counterparts as a deadline loomed for severe new tariffs.

Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the US said on Friday the two sides still had work to do, with just hours remaining before 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports ‌were due to take effect. 

“We are going to continue working up until the last minute. Our job is not finished,” Dominic LeBlanc said as he emerged from US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office ‌after hours of talks. 

Top trade negotiators from Canada and the US are trying to finalise a trade deal which could help reduce previous tariffs and avert new duties threatened by President Donald Trump as his new deadline inched closer.

Trump has said he will impose a new 50 per cent tariff on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods from Saturday if a deal is not reached.

The US president said earlier on Friday he expected the two countries to reach an agreement, though he provided no details. He also ‌said the United States ‌was starting work towards a ⁠trade deal with Mexico.

“I have dealt with the prime minister. I have got a good relationship… The deal with Canada ​is moving along, and we should be able to have a deal with Canada,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, referring to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

A deal could mark a detente in what has been 18 months of tense relations that started when Trump imposed tariffs on key imports from Canada, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with a suite of countermeasures. 

Earlier in the day, LeBlanc’s office told Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Advisory Committee on US economic relations that talks, which remained “complex and consequential,” would continue throughout the day, according to an email seen by Reuters. 

“I want to be direct ⁠with you about where we stand. This is an intense moment. The stakes are significant… That pressure ‌is being felt by Canadians ​across the country, and those at the table are acutely aware of it,” the email said. 

Even if a deal is reached, Carney could find it hard to sell it to Canadians and the ​influential premiers of the 10 provinces.

An opinion poll showed on Wednesday that 56 per cent of Canadians want Carney to make no further concessions.

Sources say an agreement is expected to cut the tariff on Canadian-built vehicles to 15 per cent from 25 per cent and halve tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 25 per cent. Ontario, a major steel and aluminum producer, wants ​the tariffs ​scrapped.

Carney is calling on major provinces to rescind their ban ​on sales of US alcohol, which is a major irritant for Washington.

Wab Kinew, the premier of ‌Manitoba, said on Thursday Trump was “very weak” and Canada should take advantage.

“I think we’ve got the upper hand — they’re back on their heels right now. They’re coming to us for a deal, and so I think we should fight,” he told reporters.

Canada, though, is less than a tenth the size of the US economy and sends around 70 per cent of all exports south of the border, which makes it uniquely vulnerable to punitive US trade actions.

US Vice President JD Vance mocked Carney on Wednesday, saying he “comes in and puffs his chest out and says, ‘I’m going to, like, out-tough ​Donald Trump’.”

Vance was speaking ⁠at a fundraiser in Southampton, New York. 

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance ‌have agreed to a $A558 million settlement to resolve the US Justice Department’s allegations the short-video app violated children’s ‌online privacy. 

The Justice Department sued TikTok and ByteDance in 2024 for allegedly failing to protect children’s ‌privacy, and illegally collecting their information. The defendants were accused of violating a law requiring online services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under age 13. 

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the Justice Department’s priority “is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted ‌with their personal information ‌meet their ⁠legal obligations.” 

In January, ByteDance agreed to ​establish a ‌majority American-owned joint venture to secure US data and avoid a US ban on the app ​used by more than 200 million Americans. The government noted that since the complaint was filed, TikTok has undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices. 

The Justice Department ​said ​the settlement “ensures that American families continue ​to benefit from stronger protections without the delay and ‌uncertainty of protracted litigation.” 

The TikTok US joint venture said in a court filing it requires all users to enter their date of birth to use the site. TikTok said it has developed sophisticated age-moderation systems that identify children under 13 who misrepresented their age. That court filing said that TikTok ​has hundreds of personnel trained in underage moderation and as a result deletes tens of thousands ​of underage accounts. 

The ACT has become the latest jurisdiction to sign on to a federal gun buyback scheme.

The territory has reached an agreement with the federal government to remove firearms under the scheme, which was set up following the Bondi mass shooting in December.

It is just the second jurisdiction to do so after NSW announced last Sunday it would be part of the buyback.

It’s estimated 14 per cent of the ACT’s 7000 firearms licence holders will be affected by a proposed cap on guns.

There are 23,000 guns registered in the national capital.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says 75 per cent of the cost of compensation to firearm holders, administration and gun destruction will be paid for by the federal government.

“We know most firearms, the overwhelming majority of firearms, are held by good citizens who will never use them for an improper purpose,” he told reporters in Canberra on Saturday.

“But there were concerns from the Australian people as to how individuals such as those at Bondi … had the number of firearms they’d been licensed with had been approved to get firearms at all.”

Mr Burke said two firearm types – straight pull and assisted repeating – had been reclassified to take them away from recreational shooters, and provision had been made for this to work across the board.

“We’ve designed the buyback to make sure it can match the different way that different jurisdictions are dealing with this,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday the government would work closely with the ACT to keep more guns off the streets.

“National gun reform is an important part of making sure an anti-Semitic terrorist attack like we saw at Bondi can’t happen again,” he said in a statement.

While agreeing the majority of gun owners were responsible, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said further safety measures were needed.

“The buyback scheme will provide compensation while helping deliver further community safety outcomes,” he said.

“The ACT has some of the strongest firearms laws in the country and this agreement supports our ongoing efforts to further reduce the risk of firearms falling into the wrong hands.”

National cabinet agreed to strengthen firearm restrictions across Australia following the Bondi attack, where 15 people died after two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah festival.

But the scheme faces opposition from some jurisdictions, with conservative governments in the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland declining to sign up.

Western Australia had already operated its own gun buyback and does not have plans to be part of a second one linked to the federal government.

However Mr Burke said what mattered right now was that a second jurisdiction had decided to be part of the federal scheme.

“A second jurisdiction deciding what we were all saying straight after the horrors of Bondi that we needed to be able to deal both with the motivation and the method.”

Tesla and eight other carmakers will recall ‌about 4.3 million vehicles in China over concerns that doors may be difficult to open in an emergency, marking the country’s largest ever recall.

China has also said it will ban concealed door handles from 2027, making it the first country to phase out a design popularised by Tesla and widely adopted by domestic Chinese EV makers.

The recall remedies range from ‌software updates to warning labels and improved markings around door handles.

Beijing has this year increased oversight of the EV industry and introduced tougher safety requirements, as carmakers, locked in a fierce ‌price war, roll out technologies in the world’s largest vehicle market.

Most of the actions, classified as ​product recalls under Chinese regulations, target emergency mechanical door-release handles that regulators say may be hard to locate or operate in a crash — a defect that has drawn scrutiny after several cases of passengers trapped inside burning vehicles.

Chinese state media reported in October that the driver of a Xiaomi SU7 sedan died after a crash and fire because bystanders could not open the doors to pull him out.

The scale of the recall reflects both the size of China’s auto fleet and regulators’ increasingly aggressive scrutiny of safety defects as ⁠vehicles become more software-driven.

The automakers, including Tesla and Xiaomi, will install warning labels to identify the ​handles, while most will also deploy over-the-air, or remote, software updates.

Tesla’s recall of 2.98 million vehicles is the largest, reflecting how many vehicles it has sold with this type of handle.

The US carmaker said mechanical emergency door-release handles may be difficult to identify following a severe collision and electrical system failure, potentially hindering occupants’ escape or rescuers’ access.

Its remedy includes warning labels and an update delivered remotely that automatically lowers vehicle windows after a collision.

Apart from Tesla and Xiaomi, Leapmotor, ​Xpeng and ​Geely Holding, also announced their largest recalls on record.

The door handles — which open via a key fob, smartphone or touch-sensitive panel — have also drawn scrutiny from U.S. regulators.

Last month, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ​said it would consider new safety standards to address the risk of occupant entrapment in vehicles during electrical power failures.

The remote regional NSW town of Broken Hill wasn’t always a bucket-list destination for music fans.

Australia’s first heritage-listed city, the town of 17,000 people has been known as the birthplace of mining giant BHP, the home of outback art and legendary painter Pro Hart, and a backdrop for wild-at-heart Australian films Mad Max and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

But since 2022, the industrial hub known as The Silver City has almost doubled in size each August as a convoy of Mundi Mundi Bash patrons make tracks through its red centre en route to a pop-up music and camping festival on Belmont Station.

Broken Hill City Council estimates the bash has provided a more than $60 million benefit to the local economy over four years, including almost $18 million in 2025.

That figure is expected to swell substantially this year thanks to extra business from thousands of displaced bashers and the addition of a prelude event – the Mundi Mundi Lightfest.

Part of the NSW government’s Open Streets Program and supported by council, the free, three-night festival was designed to encourage festivalgoers to arrive early and spend more time in the region.  

It transformed Argent St into a pedestrian-only night precinct with large-scale drone shows, lighting installations, live local music and street food.

Council spokesman Darrin Manuel said the bash delivered a welcome financial boost for the town and surrounding small communities, including Silverton.

“It has definitely given the city more prominence on the national stage,” he told AAP.

Council supports the influx of travellers to the bash with additional dump points and water in town and waste services for overflow camping at the Broken Hill Racecourse, while the bashers spend up on food and fuel.

All accommodation in Broken Hill is booked during the event.

“Amazingly, despite the rise of cost of living and fuel in recent years, the bash has continued to grow,” Mr Manuel said.

“We believe that’s a testament to the quality of the festival and the hospitality of Broken Hill.”

That good-old country hospitality was ratcheted up a notch this week when wet weather forced bash organisers to turn away thousands of ticket-holders before a note was played.

The disappointed travellers – many towing vans or trailers or driving RVs – flooded Broken Hill. And the town swung into action to absorb them.

“The city’s businesses and council are now very experienced in preparing for the bash and ensuring the needs of all visitors can be met,” Mr Manuel said.

“I’m sure the weather interruptions were a new experience for local businesses, however.

“There were suddenly thousands of patrons looking for food, drink, and entertainment, and I believe the business community went above and beyond to meet their needs.”

The bash promoters, performers and local venues organised free pop-up shows by some of the rain-affected event’s favourite acts for the large crowds about town.

Broken Hill will roll out the welcome mat again on Sunday, when the convoy of 10,000 punters who did make it through the gates of Mundiville motor back through town to restock and head home.

* AAP travelled to the Mundi Mundi Bash with the assistance of event organisers.

The final edition of the National Photographic Portrait Prize has been won by artist Nathan Beard, for an intimate image of his aunt in the last months of her life.

Mae Khong died in July at the age of 84, and the winning picture was taken at her home in the Thai province of Nakhon Nayok, depicting her bathing after a debilitating fall.

The winner was chosen from more than 1000 entrants and 30 finalists, and announced at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra Friday evening.

Mae Khong would be surprised and incredibly proud to know the portrait won an award, Beard said.

“It’s very touching to think of it in retrospect as a last gift … the last contribution she would have to helping me as an artist,” he told AAP.

The oldest of four siblings, Mae Khong represented a second mother figure for Beard, and as the last surviving family member of her generation she was also a cherished link to Thai heritage and culture.

Mae Khong migrated to Australia but returned to Thailand in the last years of her life, and Melbourne-based Beard visited regularly.

But his aunt never quite saw the point of all the pictures he took of her on those trips for his artistic archive.

“I think she had a hard time really understanding why … I don’t think she saw the worth or the value in what she represented,” he said.

The winning image shows Mae Khong sitting naked on a blue plastic chair by a tub of water, facing away from the camera.

Beard says he and his aunt agreed on the composition, which allowed him to capture the moment but also respect her privacy.

The artist is actually best known for his surreal multimedia sculptures and installations, and generally uses photography to develop these works.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize started in 2007 in order to encourage contemporary portrait photography in Australia.

It’s the last time the prize will be awarded, as the gallery is developing a new photography prize to run from 2027.

Beard will receive $30,000 from the gallery, and another $20,000 of equipment from camera maker Canon – which would have somewhat allayed his late aunt’s concerns about making a living from art.

“She was always concerned about the financial stability of being an artist, always pushing about ‘Why can’t you just pivot to another career, something a little more stable?’ ” said Beard.

The first time finalist prize has gone to Phuong Nguyen Le for a portrait of his father Lê Ngọc Long, taken to mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam war.

Hussein Abdirahmad Mohamud has previously been announced as the winner of the Art Handlers Award, for an image of Melbourne public housing estate resident Eedo/Aunt Khadija packing up her home.

A retrospective of the prize is being shown alongside the 2026 finalists exhibition from Friday until October 11 at the National Portrait Gallery, before touring nationally.

And just like that, the skies cleared and the sun came out in time for Mundi Mundi Bash debutants The Teskey Brothers to breathe in the event’s most glorious sight – the outback sunset.

The music and camping festival has been chasing the Melbourne rhythm and blues band to grace its spectacular stage overlooking the sprawling plains of Belmont Station, 40km from Broken Hill in outback NSW, since it was first held in 2022.

After a rain-soaked lead-up to this year’s event forced organisers to turn away thousands of ticketholders because the site was too wet, the rain stopped and the skies cleared on Thursday in time for The Teskey Brothers’ sublime, highly anticipated sunset show.

“Sometimes you just have to wait for the right time and fit,” Sam Teskey told AAP.

“There are so many places we would love to go to and festivals we would love to play, so once the opportunity came up to play Mundi Mundi Fest, it became very exciting and we couldn’t wait to finally play.”

He said performing at sunset was a dream.

“Well what an experience – there’s something so magical about that time of the evening and last night didn’t disappoint,” he said. 

“It was very special and a great experience.”

Event founder and director Greg Donovan told AAP on Friday the best set for artists at his festival was sunset.

“They stand up on the stage and they look out to their right, which is the north, with the sun setting in the west, and you see the most amazing sunsets I’ve seen,” Donovan said.

“We didn’t want the artists looking directly into the sun so we sort of positioned the stage where the sun would be off to their right.”

It’s a view that stops many artists in their tracks – including seasoned outback adventurers like Kasey Chambers, who paused her 2025 show to take a photo of her bird’s eye view.

“It’s the absolute star of the show,” Donovan said.

“You get one every night here – Boy & Bear will be playing when it happens on Friday.” 

Donovan said the sun had worked enough magic to allow his team to invite disappointed ticketholders left on the wrong side of the gates to join the party – for free – for the event’s final day on Saturday, which features performances by artists including Baby Animals, Jon Butler and Jon Stevens.

“There are still some wet areas around but it’s a big difference to what it was on Thursday,” he said.

“We could easily get a couple of thousand people in, but unfortunately, I think by this time a lot of people have headed off, so it’s really for people who are hanging around and can make it in.”

Bashers with one-day early entry and standard entry tickets who are still in Broken Hill or surrounding areas are welcome to attend as visitors for free on Saturday without affecting their ticket refunds.

“We remain unable to accept additional campers,” Donovan said.

“You must arrive in a single, untowed vehicle and must not bring a caravan, trailer, or anything else being towed.”

Donovan has been overwhelmed by the patience and understanding patrons inside and outside the gates have shown.

“Our Bashers are probably Australia’s most resilient and determined festival-goers – and our event team matches that energy,” he said.

“For all of us to get to the stage where we’re opening the gates to the people who have not yet been able to make it to site, and to already have 10,000 people camping out here, is nothing short of phenomenal considering we were dealing with record rain in a remote outback location.”

Despite its reduced footprint this year, the bash has still raised more than $125,000 for the Rural Flying Doctor Service and more than $70,000 for Beyond Blue.

* AAP travelled to the Mundi Mundi Bash with the assistance of event organisers.

Australia has fallen further behind its ambitious target to build 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade.

The timeline to meet the target has been pushed back by another three months since April, according to the government’s housing advisory body.

The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s latest quarterly report, released on Friday, forecast the target will be reached by the end of 2030 – 18 months later than the deadline of mid-2029.

Although building approvals have risen by 26 per cent and commencements have jumped 15 per cent since the start of the accord period in July 2024, progress has been stifled by the Middle East conflict and higher interest rates in 2026.

Construction costs rose two per cent in the June quarter and are 51 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.

“Higher fuel and petrochemical prices arising from the conflict in the Middle East have had flow-on impacts on housing construction costs in recent months,” the council said. 

“Increasing construction costs may reduce the financial feasibility of some housing projects, which presents risks to housing supply in the near term.”

While recent curbs to investor tax breaks in the budget would have a “modest” impact on supply, the council supported the measures as a step to improve affordability.

Growth in construction costs had eased from 17 per cent per year in 2022 to 3.8 per cent, in line with inflation, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said.

“We came to government with a housing system that wasn’t working for Australians,” she said.

“We’re turning that around – building more homes, helping renters and investing in 55,000 new social and affordable homes.”

Following the budget tax changes, focus among progressive housing advocates has shifted to the way Australia funds social and affordable homes.

Despite the name, critics say the model results in homes that are not affordable for low-to-medium income earners.

Scrutiny has grown on the Housing Australia Future Fund, the $10.9 billion centrepiece of Labor’s efforts to fix the housing crisis, which provides periodic disbursements to community housing providers, builders, and state governments.

A report by the Australian National Audit Office in July showed the fund had only delivered 1432 homes almost two years into its five-year, 40,000-home target.

Almost half of those had been purchased by the fund and handed to social and affordable housing providers, rather than built from scratch.

On Thursday, the Senate established an inquiry to investigate the social and affordable housing sector and the housing fund.

Housing Industry Association managing director Jocelyn Martin welcomed the six-month inquiry, saying it must address the bottlenecks holding back social housing supply, such as planning delays and workforce shortages.

Greens housing spokeswoman Barbara Pocock, who will lead the inquiry, said the HAFF was  “too small, too slow and too complicated”.

“The notion of affordability is fuzzy,” Senator Pocock told AAP.

“We need a model of affordability which goes to the per cent of income.”

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute classifies housing as affordable when it does not exceed more than 30 per cent of gross household income.

The lack of a single nationally-applied definition of “affordable housing” means many taxpayer-subsidised developments marketed as affordable housing set rents at 75 per cent of what is deemed market rate, Independent MP Nicolette Boele said.

But when the median rental in Sydney costs $841 a week, according to data firm Cotality, even a 25 per cent discount places properties out of reach for a large proportion of low-income earners who qualify for housing assistance.

Hal Pawson, associate director at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, said the greatest need for affordable housing tended to be in the most expensive areas of capital cities.