Australia news live: debris balls wash up along NSW beaches again; Paterson condemns Burke over ‘inflammatory’ criticism of Israel

<p>Central Coast council urges residents not to touch the grey balls, which are 10-40mm in size. Follow today’s news live</p><ul><li><p>Get our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl">breaking news email</a>, <a href="https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3">free app</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl">daily news podcast</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>Coalition says if Labor tries to raise taxes after roundtable it would be ‘major breach of faith’ with Australian people</strong></p><p><strong>James Paterson</strong>, the shadow minister for finance, says if the government moves to increase taxes it would be a “major breach of faith with the Australian people”. Paterson spoke to RN Breakfast after the conclusion of yesterday’s roundtable, where Chalmers said there was a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/21/key-outcomes-economic-reform-roundtable-australia">longer-term process</a> to consider major reform on the matter.</p><p>No Australian voted for higher taxes at the election, and so it seems that Jim Chalmers isn’t on the same page as the prime minister because he was unwilling to repeat that commitment at his press conference yesterday. And he is leaving open the door to higher taxes, and particularly on people’s retirement savings, on family trusts, on a whole range of other things.</p><p>When those questions were raised during the election campaign, Jim Chalmers and the Labor party said that was a Liberal Party scare campaign. So, if they go ahead and try and increase taxes, <strong>that’ll be a major breach of faith with the Australian people</strong>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/aug/22/australia-news-live-penny-wong-gaza-israel-netanyahu-anthony-albanese-childcare-safety-education-database-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>